Updated: Rail track vandals risk life imprisonment, says NRC

Vandalisation and stealing of railway materials especially track equipment could attract life imprisonment upon conviction of the suspects who will face a manslaughter charge.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation stated this on Sunday, saying this was part of new measures being taken to arrest the disturbing new practice of cutting and stealing rail track materials as more standard gauge trains commence operation.
Coordinator of the Warri-Itakpe rail line operation, Abdulganniyu Saani, an engineer, who stated this in a telephone interview with NewsTrends, also dismissed the viral video of the arrest of five suspects with a vehicle load of rail track sleepers, which were claimed to have been cut from the new rail line.
He said it was an old clip of an incident captured many years ago with the suspects who had stolen some of the narrow-gauge rail sleepers around Jos, Plateau State.
He said the police had begun a manhunt for the vandals of the Warri-Itakpe extra rail line located in a station within Kogi State, who were still on the run.
Sanni explained that the activities of rail track vandals could “lead to derailment and death of innocent train passengers, adding that all hands must be on deck to stamp out such criminal act.
“It is not just about the cost of replacing or fixing the damaged or stolen materials but the danger this poses to the lives of innocent people using the facility.”
He said the corporation had elicited the support of leaders of communities where the rail track passes through and they had agreed to set up vigilante groups for continued surveillance and protection of the rail materials.
“One of the reasons we give priority to the employment of locals, that is members of communities where our track passes through, is to get their cooperation of always protecting our facilities.” Sanni stated.
He also said the latest cutting of Warri-Itakpe track material was not on the main lane but an extra lane, which had not disrupted the running of freight and passenger trains.
He said, “The train has continued to run; no day has been skipped. Our main line is not affected.
“But the police in Kogi State where the incident had happened are on the red alert. They are working with other security agencies to apprehend the vandals and anybody who dares tamper with railway materials.”