Five arrested for destroying, stealing new Warri-Itakpe rail track

Seven months after inauguration, vandals have destroyed the Warri-Itakpe rail track, cutting the rail sleepers and carting the materials away.
Already, the police have arrested five men in Delta State in connection with the vandalisation and stealing of the rail track materials.
The suspected vandals were said to have cut several sections of the track around Kilometre 30, Adogo (Kogi State) section of the rail line.
Officials of the Nigerian Railway Corporation reportedly discovered the vandalisation two days ago.
The rail line was inaugurated by the President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2020 after about three decades of starting the project.
It is a standard gauge railway connecting the port city of Warri to the inland town of Itakpe initially meant to supply the Ajaokuta Steel Mill with iron ore and coal. But after a protracted construction period of more than 30 years, the 51km railway was finally inaugurated last year as a mixed freight and passenger line.
The project was completed by Julius Berger, and was extended from Ajaokuta to Warri (Aladja Steel Plant and Jetty) for the transportation of passengers along Itakpe-Warri corridor in addition to the original concept of freight movement service for the steel industry.