'l lost 19 nieces, nephews in Lagos boat accident’

‘I lost 19 nieces, nephews in Lagos boat accident’

In the course of the Sallah celebration, 19 members of the Sumola Aniajogun family in Ibeshe Community also died in a boat mishap in the Mile 2 Area of the state while returning home for the festival. Mr Jimoh Mutawakilu, also known as Jimalo, a member of the Sumola Aniajagoun Family, provided fresh details of the tragedy. 

Tell us about yourself and your relationship with the dead?

I am Jimoh Mutawakilu, also called Jimalo in Ibeshe Land. I am the personal assistant to the Ovori of Ibeshe, Oba Alani Gausu. All the 19 people that died in the tragic boat incident of 8 July, 2022 were children of my brothers and sisters. They were coming home for the Eid-El Kabir festivity. I was supposed to be on that boat. I am lucky to be alive.

How did you miss being onboard?

On that fateful day, I was supposed to be the one to go and pick them from the Mazamaza jetty. My elder brother, Alhaji Jimoh Ikilu Alosho, was calling me and I was also calling him back, but due to network issues, we couldn’t communicate with each other. We initially agreed to 4.00 p.m. for me to go and pick them (the deceased) at the Mazamaza jetty, but due to network issues, I couldn’t hear my elder brother very well on the phone. It was when my elder brother couldn’t reach me that he called a son of one of our brothers, Jimoh Alosho Gafau, to go and pick them from the jetty. Jimoh Alosho Gafau is popularly called Akube in Ibeshe. He was called to go and pick them because my elder brother couldn’t reach me on the phone. That day, I had issues with my phone. I kept switching my phone on and off to ensure the network was okay, but all was to no avail. It was my wife that later called me and told me that Alhaji, my elder brother, was angry that he couldn’t reach me on the phone. Kabiyesi can testify to this.

What are the identities of the dead and why were they all going home at the same time?

The next day was Sallah, so everybody was coming home to celebrate Eid-El Kabir at our family house. Among the dead were 12 females and seven males. There were a corps member and undergraduates of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Lagos State University (LASU) among them. There were children, between ages three and four, among them.

How did your family now celebrate sallah, considering the tragedy?

Our family celebrated sallah in grief. All those that died were fasting that day because that was the day of Arafah. They were all fasting and had not eaten anything. So for us, there was no sallah. We were all in grief due to the unfortunate incident.

What does your family want from the government?

What can government do for us that can bring back our loved ones that perished in the boat accident? There is nothing government can do for us. Only God can give us the strength to bear the loss. You heard what Kabiyesi said; that day, you people came. The boat drivers need orientation. We want the government to insist that before any boat leaves the Ibeshe Jetty, there should be permission from the Kabiyesi. Once most of these boat drivers start making money, nobody can talk to them again. So, we need the government to help us enforce discipline among the boat drivers. They need re-orientation.

The corps member and the undergraduates; what were their names?

The corps member’s name was Jimoh Mariam Adejoke. She was serving in Ilorin and came home to celebrate Sallah with the family. The undergraduate in UNILAG was Jimoh Famiat, a 200 level student of Mathematics. The one in LASU was Jimoh Muinat Bisola. She was a 300 level student of the Mass Communication Department of LASU. They were all coming home for Sallah before they met their untimely death on the waterways.

How did the family recover their bodies?

I was the one that went to bring all the corpses. I brought them home for burial. It was indeed a sad moment to bury those that were supposed to be your support when you grow old.