Nigerian Railway Corporation has issued a stern warning to iron vandals and their accomplices, who engage in the illicit trade or smelting of stolen railway irons and sleepers, to cease their destructive activities forthwith, as those apprehended will be treated as economic saboteurs.
Dr. Kayode Opeifa, Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, issued this warning while responding to inquiries from reporters in his office recently.
“Let me warn in the stiffest language all those involved in removing, stealing our properties, or trading along the train tracks across the country. The Nigerian Police have been mandated to go after these saboteurs who are bent on destroying the nation’s economy,” Opeifa said.
He also cautioned all smelting foundries against collaborating with these saboteurs by purchasing stolen iron materials from railways, emphasizing that such actions are detrimental to the economy and may result in train derailments, posing significant risks to passenger safety.
Opeifa urged traders utilizing the train tracks as markets to vacate the area, emphasizing the need to prevent avoidable accidents by clearing the tracks of human activity.
“Train tracks is not supposed to be converted to markets, please leave our tracks, to avoid arrests by security agents,” he said.
Concerning the alarming incidents of vandalism, Opeifa recalled that the Nigerian Railway Police Command (NRPC) in Kafanchan, Kachia Local Government, Kaduna State, recently caught two vandals and confiscated over 70 stolen iron sleepers and other materials from two apartments.
He lamented the incessant attacks on railway properties, revealing that another set of saboteurs was apprehended this week in a different part of the country, attempting to cut and remove narrow gauge tracks.
He stated that the Nigerian Railway Corporation would treat any smelting foundry caught collaborating with these vandals as economic saboteurs.
“We would not stop warning all those in the iron smelting business to stop patronising the vandals who specializes in removing our fixed stocks. Any rail track stolen and any iron sleepers removed is injurious to the average Nigerian because such has been responsible for train derailments which may put other innocent Nigerians’ lives in danger,” Opeifa added.
The former Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation emphasized that the corporation would persist in leveraging the success of the reactivated freight movement to ensure all its lines remain operational, while efforts are being made to reopen abandoned routes, especially on the Lagos to Kano ‘Western narrow’ gauge lines for extensive cargo movements nationwide.
The NRC boss explained that the reactivation of old lines, including Nguru in Yobe State, Kaura and Idogo in Ogun State, among others, would further decrease instances of food scarcity by reducing transportation costs for farm produce, thereby decreasing food scarcity and inflation rates.
He added that other lines undergoing restoration include the abandoned Jos-Kuru line, and the corporation expects to achieve seamless cargo movement beyond Ibadan from Lagos within months, with movements to Ilorin, Mokwa, and Minna scheduled to begin soon.
