Owner arrested for overloading boat – NADMO

The Director of Communications of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has revealed that the owner of the ill-fated boat which overturned and resulted in the death of five persons at Ada has been arrested.

This, George Ayisi said, was because the boat was overloaded which led it to capsize, resulting in the loss of lives and injuries.

“It has a capacity between 40-45 and from the report, they loaded over 90-95, we understand that passengers cautioned the owners that look, this is overloaded but they didn’t pay heed and they went on their journey and unfortunately we have this,” he said on Monday.

“So far we have reports that people were rescued, some were taken to clinics and have been discharged others too upon rescue, they moved to their communities, they’re from different communities in the area,” he said this on Monday, March 20, 2023.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News, Mr Ayisi also mentioned that though a number of passengers have been found, the search is still ongoing because there were a lot of children on the boat and they hope to still find survivors.

He added that the search team will keep at it till tomorrow to finally decide to end the search.

“They’ve not abandoned the search yet, I understand the search is actually ongoing hoping that they will still find survivors but from the reports so far it’s like those who were in the water were rescued aside from the five who died, almost everyone.”

“But we’re still doing the search because there were a lot of children on the boat, that’s what the report is saying so maybe by the close of today or tomorrow before they will then decide that they will finish with the search but the search is still ongoing for survivors,” the Director mentioned.

Mr Ayisi also said that weather conditions may have also contributed to the disaster but he emphasized that it was mostly the negligence and recklessness of the boat owner.

NADMO has dispatched a team from its headquarters to help with search operations and assist victims with relief items.

The accident occurred when the affected persons were travelling from Azizanya to Azizakpe for a funeral.

It is unclear how many people were on the boat but five dead bodies have been retrieved.