NIWA commiserates with families of 15 boat mishap victims in Kaduna

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has commiserated with the families of 15 boat mishap victims in Kaduna.

This was stated in a press statement signed by The NIWA General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Jubril made available to our correspondent.

The statement noted that the boat mishap occurred on May 4th, 2022 at about 11.00pm in Mai-Adua Local Government Area of Katsina State claiming the lives of 15 persons.

While condoling with the family of the deceased, the Authority however appealed to passengers and boat drivers to obey the rules and guidelines regulating passenger transportation by adequately making use of life jackets and standard boats, not overloading the boats and also avoid sailing at night.

In his words: “We wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased. We are greatly pained that this mishap occurred, despite all the measures the Authority has put in place to forestall such mishaps. Only recently, the Authority distributed life jackets and some patrol vessels to all our Area Offices across the country, to enhance surveillance and monitoring of activities on the waterways.

“We further wish to appeal to passengers and boat drivers to obey the rules and guidelines regulating passenger transportation. The use of life jackets; no sailing at night; the use of standard boats and not overloading the boats are key guidelines for safe passenger transportation.

“As we condole with the government and people of Katsina State and in particular, the families of the deceased, we shall not relent on our efforts to curb these occurrences within our inland waterways,” the statement read in part.