Sixteen people have been declared missing after a boat capsized in Nigeria's southwest state of Lagos on Friday night, local officials confirmed in a statement on Saturday.

"At about 7.45 p.m., on July 8, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Lagos State Waterways Authority received a distress call of an incident on the waterways," Sarat Braimah, director of NIWA in Lagos area, said.

She added that the rescue team is still working to locate the victims.