More than N16 billion may be required to remove over 200 wrecked vessels currently lying along the Lagos coastline and posing threat to the coastal communities in the state.
Beyond Lagos, hundreds of such vessels are said to have also been recklessly abandoned along the entire Nigerian coastline- stretching about 853 kilometres and cutting across such states as Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Rivers, Delta and Ondo- raising concern about the safety of boat travelers and other marine activities.
Adesegun Oniru, Lagos State commissioner for waterfront infrastructure, speaking at a news conference in Ikeja, Thursday, said the 200 abandoned vessels on the coastline, stretching from Badagry to Epe, are aggravating erosion which is seriously threatening lives and property in the coastal communities in the state. He said it requires N50 to N80 million to cut and remove each of the vessels some of which have sank deep into the ocean.
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Oniru said efforts by the state government to draw the attention of the Federal Government to the danger posed by the wrecked vessels and consequential erosion have yielded no positive results, as several letters to the presidency since the days of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan have not received responses.
Attempts by the state government to remove some of the vessels to avert catastrophe to the affected communities have been blocked the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), which have the responsibilities, in the first place, to ensure the removal of these abandoned vessels.
Oniru alleged that a contractor engaged by the state government to undertake the removal was stopped from continuing the work by these federal agencies which have statutory responsibility to remove the wrecks, but would not do so.
