12 die while using local boat to cross to 6th Avenue Estate in Festac

 

Last week Tuesday March 11th, Twelve people unfortunately lost their lives while trying to cross a canal with a local boat to 6th Avenue Estate in Festac, which they say is the shortest (not the only) route to the estate. There was a 'Kpako' bridge there but when it got bad about 2 years ago, the local government didn't bother building another one, so commuters were forced to start using boats to cross the canal which usually takes less than four minutes and they pay N10 to cross.

Unfortunately that day the boat, with about 13 people on-board, capsized around 7pm and it took about two hours for rescuers to recover the bodies from the canal. 1 survived. The local government chairman came with an ambulance to convey the deceased to the morgue.

Today, some residents of the area took to the streets to protest the deaths as angry relatives and neighbours say the deceased have been abandoned in the morgue without care and that the govt has refused to allow relatives claim their loved ones. They are also asking for a new bridge to be built to avoid further deaths.