Lagos Sympathies With Families Of Drowned Students At Ojo (PHOTOS)

The Lagos State Government on Thursday has sympathized with the families of six pupils who drowned when as a 14-sitter boat conveying school children capsized on Wednesday, July 1, along the Ojo Irewe waterways on Wednesday.

Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr. Yinka Marinho (2nd right), Executive Secretary, Ojo Local Government Area, Mr. Lawal Shakiru Adewale (right), the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna (2nd left), General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu (left)

Speaking to pressmen  at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Managing Director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr. Yinka Marinho labelled the incident unfortunate despite efforts by the state  government to make the waterways safe for residents.

Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr. Yinka Marinho (2nd right), Executive Secretary, Ojo Local Government Area, Mr. Lawal Shakiru Adewale (right), the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna (2nd left), General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu (left)

Marinho attended the briefing in the company of General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, the Executive Secretary, Ojo Local Government, Mr. Lawal Sakiru Adewale, the General Manager, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mrs. Dominga Odebunmi and the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Mr. Habib Aruna.

He said 12 children and an adult were on board when the incident occurred.

He said: “We got the distress call by 8:30am that an incident had occurred. We immediately sent our patrol boat to the area. When we got there, we immediately tried to rescue those who were involved with the help of the local fishermen there. We could rescue eight of the passengers, but this morning the six that were missing have been found, unfortunately, none survived”.

The LAWMA boss said the captain of the speed boat that caused the accident has been arrested and will be prosecuted accordingly.

He decried the fact the none of the passengers wore life jackets despite the provisions by the government to boat operators in the Ebute Ojo area.

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He said: “As part of the state’s Corporate Social Responsibility since 2012, we have distributed over 3,500 life jackets from Badagry to Epe area.  That particular area that we had the incident as at May 2014, we distributed 360 life jackets. All these life jackets we distributed were done to forestall these incidences, we don’t understand why people fail to wear life jackets, but we would continue to strive to ensure that the safety of the waterways is paramount.”

He said another 2400 life jackets will be distributed within the next few months. He also plead with boat operators to insist on passengers wearing life jackets when board their boat.

He said the state government has put in place adequate safety measures to guide the use of its waterways, stressing that in most cases the waterways is shut intermittently during bad weather to forestall any mishap.

Osanyintolu on his part, said the swift response of the state emergency response team ensured that eight persons were rescued alive.

He said: “Our response was swift, prompt and effective. Immediately we were informed, we activated our emergency response plan and with that we were able to rescue nine people, eight children and the driver of the canoe.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Dominga said the state government will not spare violators of its safety laws.

Executive Secretary of Ojo Local Government, Mr. Lawal Sakiru Adewale, led a delegation of the council to the families of the deceased to commiserate with them adding that medical bills of those hospitalised were paid by the government.

Few months back, Kunle Adewale, a son of the Olu of Epe, Oba Shefiu Adewale , and five others also drowned in a river after their boat capsized.

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