confirmed dead, while 12 others were rescued
in the boat accident involving a boat
belonging to Bell Marine Services.
Among the dead were two pregnant women, a
couple said to be preparing for their wedding
next weekend and a 13-year-old girl.
The boat was said to have taken the
passengers from their places of work at
5.34pm around Ebute Ero on the Lagos
Island, en route the Majidun, Ikorodu area of
Lagos State on Wednesday.
The boat was said to have capsized at the
Oworonsoki area, due to overloading and
speeding.
Our correspondent, who visited the Majidun
jetty of the Bell Marine Services, saw relatives
of the late intending couple.
An uncle of the groom, Isaac Akere, who
identified himself as Mr. Ajibola Akere, said,
"He and his fiancée were preparing for their
wedding next weekend. I just sent him N40,
000 only few days ago as my contribution to
the wedding.
"We have been to the mortuary where we saw
the corpse of his fiancee, but we have not
seen his own body. We need to recover his
corpse, so we will know what next to do."
Our correspondent saw a white Toyota
Corolla, with registration number, Lagos APP
259 CN, at the jetty. The late Isaac was said to
have parked it there before taking the boat in
the morning.
A survivor, who identified herself as Mrs.
Abimbola Bunmi, a shop keeper, said she was
in the waters for over 30 minutes before she
was rescued by a fisherman.
She said although she may have survived the
accident, she had lost all her livelihood and
had nowhere to go.
She said, "There were 25 of us in that boat.
We took off around 5.34pm. The boat was
overloaded and I complained to the boat
captain but he would not listen.
"Again, he started speeding and we all raised
the alarm that he should reduce his speed. He
didn't listen. What happened later was that
the boat broke in the middle and capsized.
"After 30 minutes in the water, a fisherman
came and helped me out. But where will I go?
I had N350, 000 on me. Though I am alive, I
am ruined."
It was learnt that some of the passengers had
life jackets on, but they reportedly sank into
the water and drowned.
Our correspondent gathered that the Bell
Marine Services could not provide the list of
passengers on board because there was no
manifest.
It was learnt that passengers usually pay a
fare of N500 to travel on the water from
Ikorodu to the Lagos Island, and find it
convenient doing so due to the heavy traffic
on the Ikorodu Road.
At the Ikorodu General Hospital where the
bodies of the eight victims were said to have
been deposited, our correspondent met the
Managing Director of the hospital, Dr.
Mobolaji Olukoya.
He said, "The victims were brought in two
batches. First was a pregnant woman who was
brought in around 6am. Her husband was in
shock. He didn't believe that she was dead
and he was praying. It was around 10am that
he finally received the news that she was
dead. In actual fact, she was brought in
dead."
He said seven other victims, comprising six
women and a man, were also brought in dead
on arrival.
Our correspondent learnt from one of the
security men at the morgue that there was
another pregnant woman in the morgue apart
from the first woman the managing director
identified.
Many family members of victims were at the
Ikorodu General Hospital morgue to collect
the remains of their relatives.
One of them, Babatunde Ogunsiji, said his
brother, Adewale, was also on the boat. Thirty
five-year Adewale, who was married with a
child, was said to be coming from work when
he joined the boat.
The Lagos State Waterways Authority said
immediately the incident happened, its men
responded to a distress call from one of the
witnesses.
A statement by the Managing Director,
LASWA, Mr. Olayinka Marinho reads in part,
"Investigations revealed that the boat, which
departed from the Ebute-Ero jetty of the
Lagos Island at about 5:30pm for the Majidun
Jetty in Ikorodu hit a large object under the
water in the course of the voyage. The impact
damaged the hull of the boat and resulted
into a high inflow of water, causing the boat
to sink.
"The swift response of the LASWA rescue team
to the scene of the mishap made it possible to
rescue 13 passengers alive. The team also
recovered six bodies trapped in the sunken
vessel from the depth of the lagoon and
immediately rushed them to the Ikorodu
General Hospital where they were confirmed
dead. A pregnant woman who was one of the
13 passengers rescued on board the boat
eventually died at the General Hospital on
arrival increasing the total number of deaths
recorded to seven. The Search and Rescue
mission also recovered some items belonging
to the victims."
The spokesperson of the National Emergency
Management Agency, South West Zone, Mr.
Ibrahim Farinloye, said rescue operation was
ongoing to recover the bodies of other
missing passengers.
Farinloye said, "As of last night, we learnt that
eight died, 12 were alive and six were
missing. Unfortunately, the operator of the
boat, Mr. Ben Kalejaiye, said nobody was
missing. But as we were about to close down
the search, somebody turned up that his
relative was missing, meaning that the search
continues."
The Managing Director of the Lagos State
Emergency Management Authority, Femi Oke-
Osanyintolu, said, "From investigations, we
learnt that those who had their life jackets on
were afraid. Instead of jumping into the
water, they didn't and that was how they
sank."
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