Published 27th Feb, 2024

At least seven Lagos residents have died while commuting between Ikorodu and Lagos Island in the past seven days.

A commuter who frequents the Ikorodu-Island water route has told FIJ that Lagos Ferry Services (Lagferry) and the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) have failed to safeguard passengers.

“Four people died after their boat capsized yesterday; it wasn’t even a full week after a previous boat mishap killed three passengers here,” Ibrahim Olaseni, a commuter FIJ spoke with, said on Tuesday.

“I live in Ikorodu and I go through this route almost every day when I go to work on the island. We have noticed repeated accidents and fatal mishaps on the waterways.

“It has become very disturbing that LASWA and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) are not doing much to improve securing lives and properties while we travel on water. Boats, carbuses and ferries are capsizing every month, and you cannot even tell if you will be the next casualty.”

On November 6, over 20 people narrowly escaped drowning at sea when the Lagferry boat they travelled on capsized.

Oyebola Marine, a commercial passenger boat, caught fire at the loading point in Ipakodo Terminal in Ikorodu on November 9. There were no casualties in that mishap.

On February 21, an Ibeshe-bound passenger ferry travelling from Addax Jetty in Victoria Island collided with a submerged shoreline concrete at a construction site around the power line corridor at the Lekki Ikoyi Link Bridge. Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) later confirmed that three passengers had died.

Oluwaseyifunmi boat capsized on Monday. The passengers did not write their details in a manifest, and the authorities are unsure of the number of commuters involved in the accident.

“Two other passengers refused to put down their details. LASWA and other first responders were able to rescue 11 alive, while the three casualties were recovered and handed over to the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority and the State Environmental Health Management Unit,’’ Wuraola Alake, the Lagos State Waterways Authority’s head of public affairs unit, told newspapers on Tuesday.

FIJ saw a statement claiming that one more casualty had been recovered on Tuesday. Four bodies have been handed over to the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) and the State Environmental Health Management Unit.

Another commuter familiar with the waterway from Ikorodu to the island told FIJ that the Lagos State Government failed to enforce safety laws for water transportation.

These commuters say that transport manifests are either inaccurate or incomplete; there are no first responders equipped with first aid training on the waterways; there is no medical assistant at the terminals; and some boats often run out of fuel mid-trip.

FIJ is reviewing more details about safety emerging from passengers who ply the Ikorodu-island water route.

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