We did not suspend Lagos-Kano passenger train – NRC

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has denied a report that it suspended the Lagos-Kano long distance train services.

Daily Trust quoted the NRC Lagos District Manager, Jerry Oche, as making the clarification, adding that at the moment, a freight train is on its way to Kano while another passenger train which left for Kano on Friday had almost returned to Lagos.

The railway district manager spoke against the backdrop of an online report suggesting that the NRC had suspended the Lagos-Kano service following a recent train derailment.

Oche said, “We didn’t suspend any train. As we speak, a freight train is on its way to Kano carrying soft drinks. As we speak, a train is coming down. So which suspension? If there is an accident, we would clear it before we run another train because it is a single line.”

The corporation had blamed the activities of vandals on the accident which happened around Niger State.

The accident, it was learnt, involved a baggage van which however did not stop the train from continuing the journey.

Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, had earlier raised an alarm over the incessant vandalism of railway infrastructure by “evil-minded people”.

It was a week after that the Minna incident happened which temporarily disrupted the train movements.

The NRC later blamed the accident on suspected vandals which removed parts of the tracks, thereby causing the train to derail. But there was no injury or loss of lives.

The Lagos-Kano passenger train is operated on Fridays to ferry passengers and goods from Lagos to Kano. The train stops at several cities such as Osogbo, Offa, Ilorin, Minna and Kaduna.