11 die, two missing as boat capsizes in Ipokia Ogun State

No fewer than  11 persons  lost their lives  as a boat conveying 29 passengers  capsized on Tafa River, Maun 2 in Ipokia Local Government  Area of Ogun State.

Confirming the incident to SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday,  Ogun  State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi,  said the boat was overloaded.

Oyeyemi  said “Yes, a boat  capsized. It was overloaded . The boat did not have headlamp  but, travelled at night . It hit  a pillar in the river. The passengers on board were coming from Badagry in Lagos to Ipokia. It was the last boat that  left  and all the 29 traders boarded the boat. 16 of the passengers were  rescued alive, 10 died on Thursday  and one  later  died on  Friday.

“They did not have life jackets. There were marines  at the site. Two  persons are  still missing but skipper has been   arrested.”

Oyeyemi, said the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu had directed that the DPO should enforce that boats must have live jackets and must not carry passengers   more than their capacities.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the incident occurred  on Wednesday night as a result of engine failure while the boat was already sailing.

An eye witness said the boat  was ferrying  the passengers  who were residents of Ipokia  and their goods from Badagry in Lagos State  where they went to trade and that they were returning  to  Maun  in Ipokia  when the incident happened.

The source  said  11 passengers died while 16 of them were rescued alive while others were still missing.

The  remains of the deceased had  been deposited at a morgue in  Ipokia.

Meanwhile, Governor Ibikunle Amosun has visited the scene of the boat accident.

Amosun, who was represented by a member  of House of Representatives, representing Egbado South/Ipokia Federal Constituency, Mr  Adekunle Akinlade, commiserated with bereaved families while pledging that the state government would  soon begin to  regulate water way transport in the area and would provide life jackets for passengers.

He added that the use of life jacket would be made compulsory to ensure safety of passengers.