- Diri express sadness
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
A tragic incident occurred early Friday morning when a local boat capsized in Iwokiri, along the Okoroma community, Nembe waterways in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The boat was conveying passengers and goods to Okpoama in Brass Local Government Area when the incident happened. Several persons are still missing, and it is feared that they may have lost their lives. The Chairman of Bayelsa State Maritime Union, Mr Ogoniba Ipigansi, confirmed that several bodies have been found following a search and rescue mission.
According to Mr Ipigansi, “You know it is a big boat. And the boat doesn’t have a record, unlike a speed boat. People just enter the boat like that with their loads. So we are still searching the area to see if we can find more dead bodies. Because even the owner of the boat doesn’t know how many people were on board.”
Sources at the Swali waterside, where the boat took off, said that people had raised concerns about the number of goods the boat carried. Mr Kpe Jeremiah Ayebainemi, whose mother and child were on the boat but have been rescued, complained that the boat was overloaded with more goods than its capacity.
“When I left for the waterside at Yenagoa to put them on the boat, the boat was tilted a bit to one side. They still loaded again about 200 bags of pure water at Okoroma even against the disdain of passengers, and shortly after they had left the port, it sank,” he said.
Mr Ayebainemi called for the relevant authorities to regulate and monitor boat operators. “They can’t joke with people’s life and property all for the greed of the change or money they want. This is the third time it is sinking again. If they don’t put a threshold on their greed, it will be the end of their business. I give God the glory. My family is hale and hearty. I believe the Ministry of Transport in line with the waterways authority and security agencies should checkmate these boats and make sure they don’t overload. In that way, they could stop things like this from happening again,” he said.
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has expressed deep sadness over the boat incident. In a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Dan Alabrah, the governor directed the relevant government agencies, including security agencies, to collaborate in the search-and-rescue efforts and ensure the recovery of all missing persons. Diri sympathised with injured victims and the families that lost persons in the sad incident and prayed that God would succour them over the unfortunate mishap. He added that the government would review the cause of such incidents to ensure the safety of lives and goods on the state’s waterways.