Published By News Editor
The derailment of the Lagos to Kano bound passenger train which occurred last Saturday, has been traced to vandalisation of the narrow gauge track, the Nigerian Railway Corporation confirmed yesterday.
The Deputy Director Public Relations Yakub Mahmood, who disclosed this in a statement said the derailment which occurred at Bode Sadu-Jebba Section in the Western District of the Corporation (kilometer 463-464) was without any casualty because it involved two baggage vans.
Mahmood said the affected train arrived Kano safely, while the corporation’s team of engineers are already on site to ensure the restoration of the affected portion of the track as soon as possible.
Only last Monday, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria at a Press Conference at the NRC headquarters Lagos, had intimated Nigerians of the alarming rate in which critical infrastructure of the Corporation especially the tracks on both the narrow and standard gauge is being vandalized by unscrupulous elements, thwarting the rehabilitation and modernisation efforts of the Federal Government on the of the entire Railway system.
Okhiria on the occasion, had enjoined the media to sensitize and enlighten the general public on the dangers associated with track vandalisation of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, which is now seriously compromising the safety of our critical infrastructures and passengers as well, by way of accidents. While sympathizing with the passengers on board the train for the untold inconveniences the accident might have cause them, Okhiria assured that anyone caught would face the full weight of the law.