Frequent deadly boat accidents linked to weak regulations

•Boat mishap

Experts in the Nigerian maritime sector have traced frequent boat mishaps and deaths on waterways to weak regulations.

Thus they have sent out an urgent call to the govern­ment and maritime regula­tory agencies to engage in proactive measures to stem the tide, rather than taking reactive measures.

Inland water transpor­tation is a major mode of transportation, particular­ly for those who live in the riverine areas, and states with water connectivity to other states, reports Daily Independent.

Also, it is more econom­ical for the people to travel, move their goods and ser­vices to the hinterland and coastal communities, which are surrounded by rivers and creeks.

For them, boats and ferries are often the most viable means of transpor­tation.

However, our investigation investigation on tragic occurrences along the na­tion’s waterways have re­vealed that movement and journeys in the territorial waters with boats or ferries are fraught with danger.

This is evidenced in the alarming frequency of boat mishaps, which had claimed countless lives in the past years, and currently still claiming.

Analysts have challenged the government to apply the kind of energy they use during electioneering campaigns for safe water transportation campaigns to reduce accidents on Ni­geria’s waterways to the barest minimum.

They also challenged the government to apply the kind of enforcement poli­cies they use in tax collec­tion or checking vehicles on the roads, to water transport to ensure that boats not fit to ply the waters are off the waterways both in the day and at nights.

As at the end of 2024, about 326 persons died in boat accidents in the coun­try, with Niger and Kwara states recording the high­est causalities of 92 and 90, an increase of 8.67 percent when compared to 2023 fig­ures which stood at 300.

Some reports had it that death tolls in 2024 were up to 452.

In the first half of 2025, more accidents and deaths have been recorded in the country’s waterways than 2024.

About two weeks ago, boat accident reportedly wiped out five siblings in Benue State. Only their fa­ther and a child survived the mishap which occurred while they were returning from the farm where they had gone to harvest cassava.

Last Tuesday in Abaji, Kogi State, a boat accident occurred earlier and the state government con­firmed 26 people died. How­ever, as at weekend, about eight more bodies were re­covered.

Ismail Aniemu, a mar­itime analyst, bemoaned unsafe practices of travel­ing on water without life jackets, not using crafts that are worthy to be on the sea, overloading, and night travel, “because there is need for navigational aid, like lighting.”

“Where you don’t have such aids that will guide you at night, people just take for granted that they already understand the terrain, so in the course of travelling, they will not see where there is a wreckage and the boat may just hit the wreck.

“Another factor is too many wrecks under our waters. When the water is at low tide, the water level is low, you will see all the wrecks, you will be seeing the wreck, the topmost part of the wreck, so your boat can avoid it.

“But, during high tide, the water will rise and cov­er the immediate surface of the wreck.

“So, boat operators or fer­ry operators will not see it, and they can hit it on speed, and that may force the boat to capsize,” Aniemu said.

Alhaji Mohammed Ane­fi, a frontline freight for­warder, did not spare the government for not paying adequate attention to the safety of waterways trans­port users.

Anefi, the Vice Chair­man, International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA), Ports and Terminal Multipurpose Services Lim­ited (PTML) chapter, said the government is not doing enough to tame the menace.

“The same capacity with which they use to do electioneering campaigns should have been deployed to do safety campaigns.

“The same way that gov­ernment goes from tradi­tional rulers to traditional rulers, religious leaders to religious leaders, to cam­paign to them for election, should have been the same way it can converse to them for observance of safe prac­tices while traveling by water. So we have not done enough enlightenment. We have not done enough sen­sitisation.”

Mohammed further stat­ed: “I’m not saying they have not done at all, but it is far below 10% what should have been done.

“Do you know that be­cause of the way people take religion very serious­ly, if their religious leader tells them that travelling by water without life jacket is wrong, stop it, some persons will quickly obey.

“Some persons also adhere very much to tra­ditional rulership. If the traditional rulers say, from now henceforth, no more overloading or no more night travel in my domain, anybody caught travelling at night will pay a heavy fine. You will see that people will not take the risk to travel at night.

“They will not even have to overload. The govern­ment will do less to police the waters. I’m aware that the National Inland Water­ways Authority (NIWA) has set up a kind of lifeguard force to prevent boat acci­dents.

“But, the truth is, if you get the real buy-in of tradi­tional institutions, religious institutions, community leadership it will drop boat accidents drastically.

“Overloading will be tak­en care of. Night travel will be avoided. Travel without life jacket can be made a crime in communities that are coastal.

“Once you are caught, even though you traveled safely and you were caught to have traveled without a life jacket, you will pay a fine that is bigger than buy­ing a life jacket. So, sensi­tisation has not been done enough.”

Proffering further solu­tions, Mohammed said, “You see how they police us in our own cars. They ask us to buy fire extinguishers, to buy seat cushion, to use the seat belt, to ensure your lights are working, to en­sure your brake is working. You see all that conditions meant for car owners.

“Government has left boat operation, ferry op­eration to the whims and caprices of the artisanal investors and operators in that sector. So, there is poor or weak regulation. Very poor, very weak.”

Dr. Eugene Nweke of Sea Empowerment and Re­search Centre (SEREC) in a position paper of SEREC, lamented that incessant boat accidents on water­ways have become recur­ring crises, which continued to undermine the country’s safety, security, and so­cio-economic stability.

He said that these chal­lenges not only threaten the lives and wellbeing of citizens, but also expose deep institutional weak­nesses within the nation’s enforcement and regulatory systems.

Nweke, a former Nation­al President, National Asso­ciation of Government Ap­proved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), noted that over the years, Nigeria’s inland waterways have recorded a disturbing number of fatal boat mishaps across Lagos, Niger, Kebbi, Anambra, Riv­ers, and other states.

He lamented that these accidents often result in the tragic loss of lives, de­struction of properties, and erosion of public confidence in water transport as a via­ble alternative to road con­gestion.

Also, enumerating the main causes, the foremost freight forwarder noted that frequent boat accidents are largely attributed to poor enforcement of safety reg­ulations, adding that many boats operate unregistered, overloaded, and without standard life-saving equip­ment.

“Untrained and unli­censed operators – most pi­lots lack professional train­ing in navigation, weather assessment, and emergency response.

“Absence or inadequate navigational aids and in­frastructure – lack of buoys, signal lights, and dredged channels make navigation hazardous, especially at night.”

He lamented the insti­tutional overlap and weak coordination embedded in the system, saying that the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Marine Police, and State Waterways Authorities often operate in silos.

Nweke also cited socio­economic factors, saying poverty and lack of af­fordable alternatives force commuters to use unsafe vessels.

He noted that NIWA and some State Waterways Au­thorities have initiated cer­tain regulatory and sensiti­sation measures.

He was however worried on the impact so far, say­ing, “Enforcement remains weak. Most interventions are reactive — implemented only after major accidents.

“There is limited commu­nity engagement, poor data collection, and an absence of a coordinated national water safety strategy”.

SEREC, therefore, in a recommended policy inter­ventions said the way out are strengthening safety regulations and enforce­ment, enforce compulsory registration and licensing of all watercrafts, mandate safety compliance audits and impose stiff penalties for violations; establish an independent Marine Acci­dent Investigation Board, introduce mandatory cer­tification and periodic re­training for boat operators and integrate water trans­port safety studies into mar­itime academies and local training centres.

Other recommendations are infrastructure develop­ment and navigation aids, regular dredging and clear­ance of waterways; install solar-powered buoys, lights, and tracking systems for all commercial boats; institu­tional reform and coordina­tion, strengthening NIWA’s collaboration with LASWA, Marine Police, NEMA, and local councils.

• Establish an Inter-Agen­cy Water Transport Safety Task Force for unified com­mand and data sharing.

•Continuous nationwide awareness on water safety and lifejacket use.

•Empower local boat unions and communities as safety compliance partners.