The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed this in a statement.

According to him, emergency responders also rescued 15 passengers on board the boat that sunk due to a mechanical fault.

“The Lion squad of the agency responded to the above incident today 6th of July 2022,” he said. “On arrival, it was discovered that a 20-passenger ferry boat carrying 17 passengers named “R & N 2” had capsized due to a suspected mechanical fault and was rapidly submerged following its departure from the Ipakodo ferry terminal.

“A combined team of water guards, the search and rescue team of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) and LASEMA responders were transferred to the nearest hospital for treatment. They unfortunately never regained consciousness and were later declared dead.”

The LASEMA boss stated that the boat captain is being investigated by the relevant authorities while LASWA has begun a probe into the cause of the accident.

The General Manager of LASWA, Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, stated that the inauguration of the boat was an initiative to further add to the integrated system of emergency and rescue.

He said, “We have been gradually building this, and we have also seen how the safety on the waterways keeps improving every year.

“What we are currently planning to do is to have our own core emergency and response boats along with the Jet Ski and the soon-to-be-launched control room.”

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Mr Olusegun Ogboye, stated at the event that the boat would mainly deal with emergencies on water and also provide outreach services to riverine communities.

He said, “The Ministry of Health will also provide human resources and consumables for health care provision. The state plans to acquire additional boats to ensure that the service runs well and meets the needs of the people of Lagos State.”

Sanwo-Olu, who disclosed this on his official twitter handle @jidesanwoolu, added that in the last 6 months that the waterways have been relaunched, Lagos state waterways authority, LASWA team has been working and the result is what is been celebrated today.

The governor also said the LASWA patrol team in collaboration with the Marine Police are always on standby, day and night monitoring all activities on the waterways ensuring the security of both lives and infrastructure.

He tweeted: “Today, we are celebrating a small but important milestone. In 6 months since we relaunched our bid to allow more residents to use our waterways, we have not had any accidents. Our safety regulations and water patrol teams are working and we are seeing the results.

“Besides the routine inspections of ferries plying the waterways & the removal of water hyacinths causing obstruction to smooth navigation, @TalktoLaswa also donated thousands of life jackets to operators and pupils in the riverine communities to promote the use of life jackets.