Barely three days after resuming operations, a passenger train on the Warri–Itakpe route derailed on Saturday, heightening public concern over railway safety across the country.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had only restarted the service on Wednesday after a period of suspension.
However, the latest incident has reignited fears among commuters and raised questions about the integrity of the nation’s rail infrastructure.
This was contained in a statement by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NRC, Kayode Opeifa on Sunday.
He said, “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 derailment occurred about two months after a similar one that was travelling from Abuja to Kaduna.
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 added.
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.
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“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.
The NRC, is a federal government agency which manages most of Nigeria’s trains, most of which run on outdated tracks.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.