The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) has said that at least two persons are dead after a passenger boat capsized at Ijede, Lagos, on Saturday night.
The accident took place around 8.30 p.m. While the ship transported passengers from Ikorodu to Ajah, Badore.
It was gathered that 21 passengers were transported by the ship. Three individuals were saved during the recovery of the two dead bodies.
On Sunday afternoon, LASEMA’s chief executive Femi Oke-Osanyintolu told journalists that 16 bodies are still to be recovered.
Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said that the marine police retrieved the capsized boat.
“No information is on ground about the captain of the boat. Further investigations are ongoing to know why the boat capsized,” he said.
The LASEMA boss said rescue operations are still underway and expressed concern that there is no licensing of many ship operators on Lagos rivers.
“These boats are run by illegal agencies, plying waterways without having the state licence, they even ply the waterway at night and the rule states that ‘don’t ply waterways after 7 p.m.”
