Friday, August 1, 2025 - The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has attributed the 2024 boat mishap on the Anam River in Anambra State, which claimed the life of Nollywood actor Junior Pope and four others, to human error rather than mechanical failure.
The Managing Director of NIWA, Bola Oyebamiji, made this
known during a multi-modal transportation stakeholders’ forum held in Abuja on
Thursday, July 31. According to him, the incident could have been prevented if
passengers had adhered to established safety protocols.
“It was not mechanical failure, not impediments in the water
or weather challenges, but purely a flagrant disregard for rules and
regulations guiding movement on the inland waterways,” Oyebamiji said.
He further revealed that some of the passengers on board
before the accident occurred rejected life jackets offered to them, a decision
that contributed to the fatal outcome.
Citing the incident as a major setback to the authority’s
efforts, Oyebamiji said such actions by passengers undermine the agency’s
mission to promote safety on Nigeria’s waterways. He urged all water users to
support NIWA in spreading awareness about the importance of water safety and
compliance with regulations.
The stakeholders’ forum was attended by key figures in the
transport sector, including the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development,
Festus Keyamo; the Director-General of the Nigerian Safety Investigation
Bureau; the Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency; and the CEO
of Air Peace Limited, Allen Onyema.
Junior Pope and the other victims drowned in April 2024
while returning from a movie shoot titled Another Side of Life, produced by
filmmaker Adanma. Their boat capsized near Cable Point at the River Niger
waterside in Asaba, Delta State.
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