July 10, (THEWILL) – The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says eleven more bodies of the victims of the ill-fated boat, sailing from Mile-2 to Ibeshe, have been recovered.
THEWILL had reported that a W19 passenger Fibre boat carrying 16 people, capsized along the Ojo area of the state, at about 7:45 p.m on Friday.
NEMA said the boat, which took off from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo axis, capsized while operating at night against the inland waterways rules.
A statement from the Spokesman of the agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the 11 bodies has raised the number of total recovery from the accident to 15, adding that efforts are still on to ensure more recovery.
Farinloye accused boat operators of carrying out services above the official hours 7pm allowed for boat operation by the Inland Waterway.
He said that, “the regulatory bodies have tried to stamp out illegal operations of small boat operators, who hardly use life jackets after official hours, but they do not heed to efforts put in place to stop them
“It was also observed that wooden boat are not permitted to be used as passenger boat, but its only at this odd hours that the illegal operators’ always put the lives of unsuspecting passengers at risk.
“Efforts are on to address the gaps with all stakeholders such as Nigerian Navy’s Special Boat Service, Association of Boat/Ferry Operators of Nigeria, LASWA, NIWA, NEMA and Marine Police, to address the situation.”
