[dropcap]L[/dropcap]agosians have called for the dismissal of the area manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, Engr. Sarat Braimah, due to incompetence and ineptitude.

Recall that on Wednesday, February 19, 2024, there was a boat mishap in Lagos, where three people were reportedly killed.

Recommended articles

According to an eyewitness, who spoke to Freelanews on condition of anonymity and confirmed by the state-owned waterways regulatory agency, Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, in its press releases, the ill-fated Ibeshe-bound passenger ferry, T-Ben, departed from Addax Jetty, a jetty under NIMA, in flagrant violation of the law that prohibits boats from commencing trips without a manifest and being on the Lagos Waterways after 7 pm.

The ferry collided with submerged shoreline concrete near the power line corridor at the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge due to poor visibility, leading to the deaths of an unnamed man, a staff member of Huawei Nigeria, and a woman who succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.

Our investigation revealed that the number of passengers couldn’t be ascertained due to the incompetence of NIWA in Lagos. There was no manifest to ascertain the actual number and identities of the passengers aboard the ill-fated boat.

However, new information made available to this newspaper alleged that T-Ben was not in good condition, which was why the captain sailed close to the shore. Occasioned by poor visibility at that time of night, the ferry collided with concrete, causing the accident.

“I need to correct some wrong information about the boat mishap.

“I ply this route everyday to and fro Ikorodu except during weekends or whenever am off work.

“I have a colleague who was a victim of this last one that occured on Wednesday. In fact, I left almost one hour before this terrible and avoidable incident.

“Firstly, there was no overload whatsoever according to my colleague and the other two victims I met the next day.

“More so, the boat was not in a good condition according to them and even one boat captain I met at one of the jetties laid claim to same. This necessitated the captain to sail the boat close to the shore and not in the middle of the where it eventually hit the concrete that caused the ill fated accident.

“More so, it was reported that one of the passengers that died was not wearing the live jacket properly, that he entered the boat speaking on phone till the incident happened. I don’t have an update on the second victim that was seen today, ditto the lady that died almost on the spot,” a source, who gave his name simply as Gbenga, wrote unedited.

Many Lagosians are wondering how a faulty ferry would escape the scrutiny of Engr. Braimah-led regulatory agency, an act which eventually led to the deaths of innocent Lagosians.

“It is unimaginable that there are possibly more bodies since there was no manifest to accurately determine the number of people involved,” one witness opined.

Another concerned boat rider stated, “Abroad, people voluntarily resign over incidents not even up to this. The head of NIWA should be relieved of her post.”

“But Tinubu is not our problem, but the people that are being employed that are not doing the needful. I believe that at every jetty that the government owns, standby ambulances ought to be there.

“If there had been a standby ambulance at Ibeshe Jetty where today’s incident happened, maybe lives would have been saved. Yet, some people are being paid for these duties, and the money is going down the drain.

“The lady that eventually died can be me or anybody. Let us all rise up in one voice to fight this. Let Lagos State declare a state of emergency on waterways,” a pained Lagosian, simply known as Igwe, was heard saying in a voicenote.

Rtn. Victor Ojelabi

Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.