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| Adegboyega Oyetola, Hon. Minister of Marine and Blue Economy |
Wooden Boats, Watery Graves: Oyetola
Sounds Alarm Over Nigeria’s Deadly Waterways
In a grim
reckoning with Nigeria’s inland waterway tragedies, Minister of Marine and Blue
Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has issued a stark warning: the continued use of
wooden boats is costing lives. Between January and August 2025, at least 92
passengers perished in a series of devastating boat accidents across the
country, despite federal efforts to improve safety standards.
From the
rivers of Kwara to the creeks of Sokoto and the floodplains of Zamfara, the
pattern is tragically familiar, overloaded wooden vessels capsizing in
turbulent waters, often with no life jackets and little regard for safety
protocols. In one harrowing incident in May, a storm overturned a market-bound
boat on the Niger River, killing 27 passengers. In August, two separate
accidents in Sokoto claimed dozens more, with many still missing days after the
mishaps.