How to stop vandalisation of rail tracks – Experts
For the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train was probably the climax of the series of efforts at undermining the development of the refurbished railway. Before the attack, the challenge of the corporation was how to curb the incidents of vandalism on rail tracks. From the narrowgauge corridors to the standard gauge, the NRC has continued to battle the activities of vandals.
In May 2016, a train derailed around Jebba, killing four and injuring three other persons. The NRC spokesman, Rauf Akinloye then confirmed the incident and said it was due to damaged tracks (apparently vandalism).
Recently, the NRC recorded two derailments on its Lagos-Kano service. The first one occurred in Jebba, Kwara State on February 21. The narrow-gauge train travelling from Lagos to Kano derailed with all the coaches of the train falling off the tracks on that Sunday morning.
The Lagos-Kano passenger train was caught in an accident that involved two baggage vans, which occurred at kilometre 463-464 Bode Sadu-Jebba section in the Western District of the corporation.
The second one, which led to the death of the train driver, happened in Kaduna on March 31. According to reports, the cargo train was conveying goods from Lagos to Kano when it derailed at Farin Ruwa village, near Jaji in Igabi Local Government Area of the state, just three days after a train bound for the same state from Abuja was attacked by bandits, who killed eight passengers on board, 26 persons and abducted many others.
Confirming the incident, the public relations officer of the NRC, Northern Regional District, Abdullahi Alhaji, explained that the narrowgauge train travelling from Lagos to Kano was conveying soft drinks before it derailed in Jaji, Kaduna State.
He attributed the accident to vandalisation of the sleepers and other accessories of the rail track in the area.
The NRC managing director, Fidet Okhiria, an engineer, had cried out over the persistent vandalism of rail tracks, especially the removal of sleepers. He said this cut across the various corridors, including the Lagos-Ibadan, AbujaKaduna and Warri-Itakpe standard gauge train services.
He said Nigerians must prevail on those sabotaging the railway by removing equipment
on both the standard and narrow gauges.
He said, “Some people are trying to spoil what all of us have tried to put in place by going to the extent of vandalisation, removing clips and all sorts of negative things to sabotage the system.
“I know that with your support and cooperation, people will be properly educated. Sabotaging the rail and the track of infrastructure is not in the best interest of Nigeria.
“It is good that we maintain what we have and keep it working so that those of us that are alive and using it now will leave it behind for generations to come, so that they can appreciate the legacy we are working hard to leave behind.
“It is becoming alarming and very serious. I don’t want to mention particular regions, but people are sabotaging the tracks so badly, mostly on the narrow gauge, up to the extent of going to the standard gauge. We have had issues between Papalanto and Abeokuta. We have had issues close to Kaduna on the standard gauge and we have issues close to Ajaokuta, of people trying to vandalise the tracks and even stealing the coaches.”
Options
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that while security agencies have continued to arrest vandals, slow prosecution has been a source of concern for stakeholders as there is little or no deterrence.
Findings by our correspondent revealed that there are about 50 cases of vandalism in
various courts across the country.
The Senate Committee on Land Transportation, through its chairman, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, during a visit to the NRC late last year, decried the increasing cases of vandalisation of rail tracks, noting that those involved had the intention to murder as it could cause trains to derail.
He said this explained why some senators were advocating that the culprits should face firing squad.
He said, “It is sad. Last week, somebody was arrested. He was picked up removing some tracks. From investigation, they found out that the person involved was a police superintendent.”
Is death sentence an option?
Experts who spoke with our correspondent said that only through community policing initiatives would the vandalism of railway tracks be stopped.
A professor of transportation in the Lagos State University (LASU), Samuel Odewunmi, said the best thing was to enlist community security along the track lines.
He said this explained why he expressed reservation with the N3billion surveillance equipment the minister of transportation recently requested for.
According to him, the N3bn could be used in enlisting the people around villages on the rail corridors.
He said, “But if you enlist people, villagers along that track and you tell them from kilometre one to kilometre 20, it is for this village and we will be paying you N20,000 per month and let some boys be doing, maybe cattle rearing along the tracks. Immediately they see this strange movement, there is a number they will call, which will be toll-free.
“We should not always rely on foreign solutions to our problems because this is not a locally developed solution to our problem. All they need to do may be to cut one wire there and that will be it, or destroy the sensor and everybody would be blind, or how much of that heavy equipment that were imported have local input. That is the first solution to vandalisation of rail tracks.”
On his part, a transportation expert, Dr Oscar Odibo, in a chat with our correspondent, blamed the vandalism on the economic situation in the country, tasking the government to address the root causes of poverty, unemployment and the hardship in the land. While decrying the situation, he said it could slow down the progress already made in revitalising the railway.
“Vandalisation of tracks is happening everywhere - in the East, North, South and West. What do they do with it? They cut and sell to the same railway corporation? It is the same thing that happens with power cables. They cut those cables and take them to the open market and sell. And when people need cables, they go there and buy,” he said.