Deaths On Waterways: Maritime Group Accuses NIWA Boss, Oyebamiji Of Incompetency Over Waterway Safety

Amaritime policy group, Blue Marine Alliance, has raised concerns over the increasing deaths on Nigerian waterway which stand at 101 between January and August 2025.

In a statement on Sunday by Abuja Sector Director, BEA, Mr Felix Audu, the group called on the management of the Nigerian Inland Waterways (NIWA) to wake up from its inertia and find immediate solutions.

Reacting to the latest report of 101 deaths on Nigerian waterways between January to August 2025, the alliance tagged the situation “a demonstration of gross incompetency and dereliction of responsibilities on the part of NIWA, the regulatory body.”

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The statement partly read: “In 2024, the nation recorded close to 600 deaths on the Waterways. Now, we have over 100 according to the latest data. This is unacceptable and a manifestation of leadership distraction, lack of capacity or a combination of both within the NIWA leadership.

“The management of NIWA should rise to the occasion and stop failing commuters on the waterways. The idea of sharing life jackets and posting waterways marshals are not addressing the core of the problem.

“Mr Bola Oyebamiji, the head of NIWA should think fundamentally and innovate on how modern waterways transportation are designed and managed.

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“The NIWA management should stop disgracing President Bola Tinubu by its failure to stop carnage on the waterways.”

“If the managing director has no clue as his tenure has so far indicated, he should take a crash course in modern waterway management and at least adopt some of the best practices. There is no excuse for the current failure the nation is witnessing on the waterways,” the group affirmed.

Source: SaharaReporters