© ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved. Boat Accidents in Nigeria: General Trends and Risk Factors (June 2006-M ay 2015) Ukoji Vitus Nwankwo * , Ukoji Vitalis Ukoji ** Abstract Boat mishaps are more endemic than ever before in Nigeria due to increased patronage of water transportation. This preference heralded a new era of immense pressure on boat operators and other water users and increased boat accidents cum fatalities. Data from Nigeria Watch showed that 1607 lives were lost in 180 boat accidents between June 2006 and May, 2015. Identified human related and natural causes of such fatal boat accidents included overloading, careless driving, political instability, piracy, militancy, negligence, turbulent weather and wreckages. Findings in the article showed that fatalities spread among government security personnel including the Nigerian Navy, Army, boat operators and passengers, barge captains, militia groups and pirates. Also, finding showed that the amnesty program initiated in 2009 in the Niger Delta area contributed to the decrease in the number of boat accident fatalities in 2010 but the dissatisfaction in the management of the program among the different armed groups led to a resurgent of boat accident especially in the Niger Delta waterways. Keywords: Fatalities, Transportation, Boat accident, Militancy, Piracy, Amnesty, Water ways, Nigeria. Introduction With 8,600 km of inland waterways and extensive coastland of about 852 kilometers,[1] Nigeria boasts of the second longest waterways in Africa. The Niger River and the Benue River, the two longest rivers in Nigeria, run into each other at Lokoja and dissect the country into east, west, and north sections. These rivers and several others have been utilized for water transportation. As such, ocean, coastal water and inland water transports are regarded as three main components of water transportation in Nigeria. The coastal waterways stretch from Badagry through Warri to Calabar. Heavy traffic are moved through these coastal waterways especially where speed is less important than cost. Tonnes of agricultural products are transported from production areas to major industries in urban centers where they are processed through the waterways. This process incurs less cost and boosts the availability of commercial agricultural products in waterlogged areas. Statistics from National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) show that 22 out of 36 states in Nigeria use water as a means of transport and over 296 Nigerians were lost as a result of boat mishaps in the year 2013.[2] This statistics proves that the water transportation has come to occupy a strategic place in the economy of the nation especially with the intricacies of road transportation. However, water transport still scores a distant second to road transport, with an average share of about 1.6 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product 3 but slow and unsuitable for passenger movement, except for holiday and tourist traffic where time is not a constraint or where other forms of transport are not available.[3] To further reposition water transportation in Nigeria and make it more competitive and safer, the federal government embarked on several policy reformations and restructuring of the Inland Waterways Authority, a regulatory agency for water transportation in Nigeria. * Assistant Project Coordinator, Nigeria Watch Project. ** Department of Sociology, Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil-Kano, Nigeria. Correspondence to: Mr Ukoji Vitalis Ukoji, Department of Sociology, Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil-Kano, Nigeria. Email Id: vitalis.ukoji@gmail.com