Boat accidents caused by head-on collisions, speeding and overloading claimed no fewer than 3,133 lives in the last 10 years, Saturday PUNCH can report.
A tally of reported incidents done by our correspondent, covering January 2013 to June 2023, indicated that Niger, Rivers and Bayelsa states have the highest number of accidents. In coastal Rivers and Bayelsa states, there were over 557 deaths, with over 112 unaccounted for, as their bodies were never recovered.
In Niger State, from 2013 to date, there were about 24 boat accidents, which led to the death of over 332 persons, including women and children.
On March 15, 2013, the National Emergency Management Agency reported that nine bodies were recovered from a capsized boat some 40 nautical miles from the coast of Calabar, Cross River State. About 117 others were declared missing as the boat, which carried over 166 persons, said to be illegal immigrants being trafficked to Gabon, sank.
Although authorities insisted that nine bodies had been fished out, a doctor at a local mortuary told Reuters that 45 bodies were brought in from the accident.
On May 26, 2013, in Warri, Delta State, 11 persons were said to have died when a tugboat towing a Chevron oil tanker capsized. The only survivor, Harrison Odjegba-Okene, was found by rescuers three days later.
On September 28, 2013, 42 persons were said to have lost their lives after a boat carrying traders capsized in Niger State. According to the official figures released by the National Emergency Management Agency after the incident, about 100 others were missing.
The boat, said to be overloaded, was on the Niger River between two villages in North-Central Nigeria when it capsized Friday evening, the head of the state emergency agency, Mohammed Shaba, said.
He said the boat was carrying 150 persons, out of which 42 were confirmed dead, eight were rescued and 100 were missing.
On October 7, 2013, 18 passengers died in Niger State in a similar incident.
Shaba told AFP, “We lost 18 lives. We were told there were about 70 persons on the boat.”
The investigation showed that over 371 persons died in several boat accidents in the country in 2013.
On March 11, 2014, NEMA confirmed that 13 dead bodies were recovered from a boat accident in Lagos. Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, who was an information officer with the agency at the time, said the boat capsized at 4th Avenue, opposite 41 Road Junction in FESTAC Town, Lagos.
He said the accident occurred while the boat was trying to move the passengers from one side of the road to the other over a distance of about 10 metres.
Farinloye said the boat had over 15 passengers. He confirmed that among the dead were two children and that five persons were missing.
On April 3, 2014, eight persons died and 12 others were rescued after a boat capsized between Eko Bridge and Ikorodu in Lagos State.
The then Commissioner for Transportation in the state, Kayode Opeifa, told The PUNCH that the accident might have been caused by underwater obstacles which led to the boat capsizing.
Meanwhile, survivors told Saturday PUNCH that the cramming of about 25 people into a boat designed to carry 20 passengers caused the accident.
On June 3, 2014, 11 persons died in a boat accident in Garafina village in Borugu Local Government Area of Niger State.
The boat with 18 people on board capsized when it hit a tree under the water.
On October 3, 2014, at least 28 persons, mostly students, were feared dead after a boat capsized in the Niger River in Kogi State, according to eyewitnesses.
A resident, Sabitu Kperogi, told Channels Television, “There were over 28 casualties in the boat mishap on the Niger River near Kupa in Lokoja [Kogi State’s provincial capital]. They were mostly students returning for the Eid holiday.”
In 2014, the total number of deaths, Saturday PUNCH gathered, was pegged at over 60.
On March 26, 2015, six persons were said to have died in a boat accident in the Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State. Also, on July 1, 2015, six children drowned Lagos when the boat ferrying them to school capsized after colliding with a bigger vessel on the lagoon. No fewer than 14 children were aboard the boat when it overturned.
On September 7, a six-year-old, Isaiah Bamidele, was confirmed dead after two boats collided in Odo-Isitu, Egan, Lagos State. Reports said the boats, with 17 occupants each, were moving in opposite directions.
However, the Ogun boat, which was on top speed, reportedly lost control and crashed into the one from Lagos. All the passengers were said to have fallen into the waters before local divers arrived at the scene in response to an emergency call.
The same month, six other persons lost their lives in a boat accident that occurred on September 27 in a river in Bengaji District of Yabo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
For 2015, the total figure was put at over 15 persons.
On January 3, 2016, a boat accident claimed the life of a 27-year-old man in Yenagoa, reported the News Agency of Nigeria. The man died after a canoe carrying him and one other person capsized at the creek near the Federal Medical Centre in Yenagoa.
In the same month, seven people were declared dead and eight missing after a boat capsized in the Ijede area of Ikorodu, Lagos. The 20-passenger capacity boat was reportedly conveying 17 passengers from Ijede en route to Badore when it capsized at about 10.20am.
On February 7, two persons reportedly died in another boat accident in the Badary area of Lagos.
Also in February, at least eight persons drowned in Jigawa when a canoe ferrying traders capsized and panicked passengers in another boat jumped into the river. The incident happened on February 11, 2016.
The first canoe was said to be carrying traders to a local market in the Jahun district of the state when it tipped over after hitting an obstacle in the water, the local government area chairman, Ibrahim Mu’azu, said.
On May 27, one person was said to have died in a boat mishap in Ikorodu, Lagos.
On September 5, 2016, about four soldiers attached to ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’ in Bayelsa State were involved in a boat accident.
In the same month in Delta State, four funeral guests drowned on September 24. They were said to have been on their way to the burial of the late Tunteriwei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, High Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo, the father of a former militant, Chief Government Ekpemupolo.
On November 11, 2016, a corps member died in Bayelsa State in Okpotuwari community in Southern Ijaw LGA, Rivers State.
In the same year, a father, mother and son were declared missing after two boats collided on December 9 in the Badagry area of Lagos State.
In total, the tally by Saturday PUNCH revealed that over 40 persons lost their lives to boat accidents in 2016.
Meanwhile, data from Nigeria Watch, collated by our correspondent, showed that between 2017 and 2018 alone, over 1,005 persons lost their lives in several boat accidents in the riverine communities of Rivers, Bayelsa, Lagos, Sokoto and Niger states.
For instance, no fewer than 99 persons died in six boat accidents that occurred in Kebbi, Niger and Lagos states between April and September 2017, according to the survey.
In 2019, on February 14, 43 persons were said to have lost their lives in a boat accident that occurred in Niger State.
In the same month, about eight persons died in Benue. On March 11, four persons died in Warri North LGA, Delta State, while on June 30, two persons died in Lagos. On July 1, 15 persons also died in Niger State.
On July 3, no fewer than 12 persons died in Lagos, and on August 1, 15 persons died in Niger State.
Also, from 2020 to date, over 1,027 persons lost their lives in several boat accidents across the country. Notable among them are the Anambra 2022 incident that claimed 76 lives and the Kwara 2023 incident that claimed over 106 wedding guests with several others still missing.
Within two weeks, two other boat accidents occurred claiming a total of 13 lives in both Cross River (three) and Akwa Ibom (10) states.
A researcher, Ukoji Vitus Nwankwo, who has written on boat mishaps, said collision caused most of the boat accidents and deaths.
From his analysis of the causes from 2006, he stated, “Collision caused the most boat accident deaths (227 deaths), seconded by militancy (198 deaths) and piracy (126 deaths). Other major causes include rainstorms/turbulent weather (90 deaths), ethnopolitical issues (85 deaths), overloading (65 deaths), boat developing mechanical faults (58 deaths) and flooding (57 deaths).”
These were figures between 2006 and 2015 alone.
Reacting to the Kwara incident, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Inland Water Authorities, Dr George Moghalu, said the accident was caused by ‘avoidable human error’
He stated, “From the report that we have received so far, the vessel was on the water at about 2:30 am and there is a standard protocol that vessels are not allowed to travel after 6pm because experience has shown that over 90 per cent of accidents that happen on the waterways occur either at night or early in the morning.
“The boat was heavily overloaded. It had no business carrying over 250 passengers. It was practically impossible for the vessel to operate safely with that load.”
Moghalu assured that the agency was already taking steps to make sure there is no recurrence.
Moghalu also promised that a jetty would be built for the people of Pategi, Kwara State.
“The jetty was in response to the demands of the locals, which was in line with the decision of NIWA to make water transportation safer,” he said, adding that over 95 per cent of accidents that happened on waterways occurred either in the night or very early hours of the morning for lack of navigational aid at night.
A water safety professional in Rivers State, Mr Kumulu Jaja, said passengers must have their life vests on before boarding any boat.
“Regular checks by the boat owners are also a way to make sure that these things do not recur as often,” he added in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Friday.
