5th April, 2014
Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) has recovered the body of a man declared missing after a tragic boat mishap on Majidun River in Ikorodu, on 2 April.
Olayinka Marinho, managing director LASWA, confirmed the recovery of the body. A body of the 38-year old shipping company executive, identified as Isaac Akere, was recovered by LASWA rescue team around at 7.00 a.m. toady. Akere was a staff of CMA CGM Delmas Nigeria Limited, a shipping company based in Apapa, Lagos.
“Our search team discovered the wreck of the boat mishap that happened on Wednesday evening at Majidun in Ikorodu on Friday. Another team went in search of the missing body and it was recovered this morning,” he said.
He added that: “The body was identified by family members and a colleague of the deceased and it had been deposited at the hospital morgue.”
Kelechi Chukwudi, a colleague of the deceased, said Akere was preparing for his wedding ceremony. “We got the news of the death of our colleague and his fiancée, whose wedding will come up on 12 April by two survivors who work in a nearby organisation.
“When we heard the news, we went to the Ebute-Ero Jetty and we were referred to LASWA office and later to Ikorodu General Hospital where the corpse of his fiancée was identified on Thursday.
“The loss of our colleague and his fiancée is a big blow to us but we thank LASWA for recovering his body,” he said.
Akere and his fiancée were commuting in a 22-capacity boat, plying Ebute-Ero to Ikorodu. The boat was however involved in accident at 5.45p.m. Eight people died in the mishap, one passenger was declared missing and 13 were rescued.
The bodies of the dead people were initially taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital and later to General Hospital, Marina for further investigation by the Marine Police at Ikoyi, Lagos.