Boat mishap: Victims not from Niger – Aliyu The Governor of Niger state, Dr Muazu Babnagida Aliyu has refuted report which stated that victims of last weekend boat disaster were from Niger state. Aliyu who made this clarification in a signed press statement by his Chief Press Secretary Mr. Israel A. Ebije said the unfortunate travellers were all traders from Abugi, lokoja local government adding that none of them was from Niger. He said as Nigerians and haven had bitter experience over deaths recorded in Niger state over boat accidents, he shares the pains of the unfortunate travellers. He therefore called for more care and protective measure to mitigate mishaps. While commiserating with the Government and people of Kogi state over the tragedy, he said there is need for travellers to avoid night journeys insisting that visibility is always challenging at night. The Niger state governor said that tide is rising to its peak as the rains continues to fall, adding that it is better to travel when visibility is within official requirement for shuttle boat travel. He urged travellers and boat operators to be more careful adding that water transportation could be dangerous as no one has control over the tides or the wind. He said objects are pushed into the routes of unsuspecting boat operators which often leads to loss of lives. “ I am indeed saddened by the death on account of boat disaster along the river Niger. For me, no body deserves to die that way. It is even more worrisome that some passengers do not ask for swimming vests. I have made it compulsory that boat travellers in Niger put on vests each time they travel”, he said. The Niger state governor urged boat operators to always make sure they have hired rescue experts onboard at each shuttle trip just in case disaster strikes. He said casualty figure will reduce drastically if precautionary measures are put in place
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 20:15:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015