Junior Pope’s Death: NIWA Says Boat Mishap Was Due to Human Error, Not Mechanical Fault

Months after the heartbreaking death of Nollywood actor Junior Pope and four others in a tragic boat accident, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has revealed that the incident was caused by human error—not mechanical failure or bad weather.

Speaking at a multimodal transportation stakeholders forum in Abuja on Thursday, NIWA’s Managing Director, Bola Oyebamiji, clarified that investigations showed the passengers involved ignored essential safety protocols.

“It was not mechanical failure, not impediments in the water or weather challenges, but purely a flagrant disregard for rules and regulations guiding movement on the inland waterways,” Oyebamiji said.

He pointed out that some of the passengers reportedly refused to wear life jackets offered to them before the journey, a choice that ultimately proved fatal. Oyebamiji expressed deep concern that such careless behavior undermines the agency’s efforts to enforce safety on Nigeria’s waterways.

The forum, which included key transport stakeholders such as Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, and CEOs of aviation and transport agencies, focused on improving safety and collaboration across transport systems.

Junior Pope tragically lost his life in April 2024 after a boat returning from a film shoot for the movie “Another Side of Life” capsized around Cable Point, a section of the River Niger in Asaba, Delta State.

The incident, which shook the Nollywood community and fans nationwide, sparked renewed calls for improved regulation and enforcement of safety standards on waterways.

NIWA urged all waterway users to support its safety awareness campaigns and always comply with safety rules—especially wearing life jackets—as a basic precaution.

Junior Pope’s death serves as a painful reminder of how simple safety measures can mean the difference between life and death.