From JUDEX OKORO, Calabar
No fewer than 168 passengers on board a wooden boat travelling to
Gabon are feared dead, throwing the water transportation industry in
Cross River and Akwa Ibom states into deep mourning. Investigations by
Daily Sun revealed that the boat loaded in the early hours of Monday,
March 18 at Oron Jetty beach in Akwa Ibom State with 168 persons on
board, including crew members. It was learnt that the boat developed
problems when it entered the international waters and could not
withstand the stormy waves.
It was further learnt that the boat, carrying traders and
holidaymakers as well as children, was overloaded with passengers and
goods, thereby making it difficult for the crew members to control it
when tide became turbulent.
A source at Calabar Marina Jetty beach told
Daily Sun that 70 percent of the passengers on board left Calabar beach
to board at Oron because the transport fare from there was cheaper. They
also considered the ride from Oron safer as the agents handling the
wooden boat knew how to manoeuvre the creeks to beat sea pirates.
The source hinted also that majority of the passengers were Igbo
traders from the South-east who were returning to Gabon after the
Christmas season while the rest were from Cross River, Akwa Ibom,
Bayelsa, Rivers and Ondo states.
Daily Sun investigation further showed
that already 45 corpses had been recovered and deposited at the
University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) mortuary while local
divers from the two states were said to be searching for the remaining
bodies. When Daily Sun visited the UCTH, sources close to the Chief
Medical Director, Dr. Thomas Agan, said “the management was directed by
the federal authorities to receive the corpses and treat them well.”
It was learnt that the bodies of the victims were being deposited in
UCTH Calabar because they were believed to be Nigerians and use Calabar
as their major route to neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Equatorial
Guinea, Malabo and Gabon. Inquisitive residents within the metropolis
were seen trooping to the mortuary to find out if their relatives were
involved. Confirming the incident, the Information Officer of the Cross
River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. David Akate, said
the boat was carrying 168 passengers, adding that rescue efforts were
still going on.
He said the boat was travelling 40 nautical miles off Cross River
post, adding that the incident was closer to Akwa Ibom territorial
waters. A marine transporter at the Calabar Inland Waterways, Mr.
Emmanuel Oko, said the passengers of the boat were mostly Igbo traders
who were heading to Gabon. He said the traders came from the South-east
states and headed to Oron in Akwa Ibom to board the wooden boat because
it was cheap.
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