The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has revealed that the tragic 2024 boat accident on Anam River in Anambra State, which claimed the lives of Nollywood actor Junior Pope and four others, resulted from human error rather than mechanical malfunction.
NIWA’s Managing Director, Bola Oyebamiji, disclosed this during a multi-modal transportation stakeholders’ forum in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Oyebamiji, some passengers had refused to wear life jackets provided before the incident occurred.
He stated:
“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.”
He emphasized that such negligence undermines the agency’s ongoing efforts to ensure safety across Nigeria’s waterways and urged all water users to support NIWA’s safety campaigns.
The event was attended by key stakeholders, including the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, and CEOs of major transport agencies.
Junior Pope tragically drowned in April 2024 while returning from a movie shoot titled ‘Another Side of Life’. The boat capsized near Cable Point on River Niger in Asaba, Delta State, leading to the fatal incident.