The Lagos Area of the National Inland Waterways Authority has called on passengers and ferry operators in the state to desist from night travel for safety.
The Area Manager, Alhaji Mu’azu Sambo, made the call against the backdrop of a boat mishap on May 18, at the Bonny Cantonment, Victoria Island, which claimed the life of a passenger out of nine persons on board.
Sambo told reporters in Lagos yesterday that the waterways were not safe at night for users.
Lamenting, he said: “Lives that are being lost to boat mishaps are a serious concern to us.
“One of the main causes of mishap on our waterways is night travel; our waterways are not illuminated.
“The boat can collide with anything; collision has been reported of two boats or more hitting a wreck at night, “ Sambo said.
The NIWA boss said that the authority had set a 7p.m. time limit for daily operations on the water to safeguard lives of users.
“The ban on night travel takes effect from 7p.m., and it is put in place in order to safeguard people’s lives as a result of absence of illumination on waters,“ he said.
“Let people co-operate with the government by adhering to this,’’ he urged.
Sambo said that the authority had stepped up its waterways safety enlightenment campaigns and enforcement of regulation across the navigable routes in the state.
He said that the authority’s safety compliance team had started visiting all the jetties, educating and enlightening commuters and ferry operators.
The authority’s Head of Marine Department, Mrs Sarat Suleiman, said that the recent boat mishap happened when the authority had closed operations on waterways.
“People were illegally moved on waterways in the night; we did not expect any boat to be on water by then.
“Operators and passengers should stop using waterways at night; it is not safe; we have been telling them.
“People will not heed the warnings; they will still move in the night to risk their lives.
“It is endangering lives when you do not have light and you are operating at night,’’ she said.
The latest mishap in Lagos, which occurred on May 18 at Bonny Cantonment, was the third in less than three months.
On March 18, ferry users drowned at the FESTAC Canal while nine drowned last month at the Ikorodu Waterway on the outskirts of Lagos.
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