A Nigerian train has derailed three days after resuming operations, raising concerns about safety as authorities complain of sabotage to rail tracks.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) resumed the Warri-Itakpe train service on Wednesday, only for the train to derail on Saturday.
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“We wish to inform the public that a train derailment incident occurred on Saturday at approximately 19:30 hours, involving two out of the seven coaches of our WITS at Kilometre 212+8m, Agbor.
“Preliminary investigations indicated that the incident may have been caused by suspected track vandalism,” the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NRC, Kayode Opeifa, said in a Sunday statement.
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The derailment occurred about two months after a similar one that was travelling from Abuja to Kaduna.
Mr Opeifa said all passengers on the Warri-Itakpe train have been successfully evacuated.
“We are pleased to confirm that all passengers on board were safely evacuated to Agbor, and everyone has been fully accounted for. No casualties or injuries were recorded,” he said.
Mr Opeifa said that the NRC recovery team, supported by security personnel, had been at the site since last night, carrying out recovery operations.
He added that these efforts were progressing steadily and are expected to be completed soon.
“As a precautionary measure, train services on the corridor have been temporarily suspended today to enable a comprehensive security and safety audit of the track and related infrastructure.
“We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may cause our valued passengers and the public.
“Normal operations will resume as soon as it is verified safe to do so,” he assured.
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The Warri-Itakpe train service had been suspended for several months to allow the management to “carry out urgent and critical track repairs” necessitated by the theft of rail tracks.
Last week, the NRC announced that the operations would resume on 29 October following the successful repairs. Saturday’s derailment occurred three days after the resumption.
Such problems are, however, not peculiar to the Warri-Itakpe section of Nigeria’s railway.
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In August, the Abuja-Kaduna train, carrying over 500 passengers, bound for Kaduna, derailed.
“A total of 618 persons, comprising 583 passengers, 15 NRC crew members, one medical personnel, eight cleaners, and 11 catering staff, were successfully evacuated from the train,” the NRC said at the time.
“Out of this number, seven passengers sustained varying degrees of injury and were immediately transported by ambulances to hospital facilities by medical personnel mobilised to the site.”
The NRC, a federal government agency, manages most of Nigeria’s trains, most of which run on outdated tracks. Only Lagos has an efficient intra-state train service in the West African country, with the NRC managing the inter-state services.
However, vandalism, old and poorly maintained facilities, sabotage, and terrorism have hindered the efficient performance of the inter-state trains in a country where road transport is the overwhelmingly popular form of transportation.
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