Ten people drowned on Sunday when a passenger speed boat capsized at Imude, a riverine community in Otto-Awori local council development area of Lagos in southwestern Nigeria, General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Femi-Oke Osanyintolu said on Monday.

Osanyintolu told reporters that five dead bodies were recovered from the boat mishap incident, saying officials of the state-run emergency agency in collaboration with merchant navy were still searching for other missing passengers.

"The passengers were not putting on live jackets and that is why they drowned and died. It is a pity that most speed boat passengers still refuse to make use of life jackets for safety, in spite of the fact that we always educate people about the importance," he said, adding that most of the victims were teenagers who were returning from the Muslim Eid-el-Kabir festival held over the weekend.

According to the official, the boat capsized half-way to its destination due to the wave caused by a bigger boat which plied the same route with the ill-fated speed boat.