Rotimi Amaechi, Lagos’s Minister of Transportation, has committed to look into the causes of the incidents around Magazine Point in the Marina region.
Amaechi made the vow on Sunday at the end of a tournament hosted by the Lagos Yacht Club, according to a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Eric Ojiekwe.
While awarding the club’s Governor’s Cup to the winner, the minister requested the club’s administration to formally write to his government about the accidents.
“I have always passed here, without knowing what danger the construction of the bridge poses to Nigerians, but being here today, I have learnt that there have been accidents here and there.
“I am not sure it is from the Federal Ministry of Transportation. I will have to find out and I have asked the club to send us a letter so that we can investigate what’s going on there.
“We are not in charge of bridges, we are in charge of water. Our responsibility is to ensure that all those who use water, use them safely.
“The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) argues that this place belongs to them and it truly belongs to them.
“When it comes to who collects the money for this place, the law says inland waterways, and this is inland water, this is not the sea,” Amaechi said.
The minister also congratulated the yacht club for its long history in Nigeria.
“This place is a part of Nigeria’s history that I never knew about. I learnt that this place started in 1932,“ he said.