• Traders, residents adamant
By Cosmas Omegoh and Agatha Emeadi
Imagine you were on-board that ill-fated Lagos State-owned BRT bus that was torn apart by a moving train. You were on your way to work, sight set on completing the tasks you left behind the previous day.
The driver of the bus had been tearing through the characteristic Lagos traffic without any incident. Beautiful rays of the rising sun kept piercing through the window glasses, creating this air of joy around everyone.
Then suddenly something went wrong. The bus, as though blind, raced unto the rail track at the same time that speeding diesel engine train had concluded it had the right of way as it sputtered down the rail line. Then Armageddon descended. The train tore the bus with such a smashing hit. In seconds, a substantial part of the once beautiful bus and some people it carried had become smithereens.
Shrill voices of the severely wounded ones, laden with distress were heard rising from the scene, calling for help. The lucky survivors among them were flung apart, shocked and dazed.
Such was the fate of the 102 passengers involved in the Thursday, March 9 train-bus collision at PWD bus stop in Ikeja, Lagos. The incident left six dead, and landed 66 others in hospital.
The day had started like every other one for all the victims. Each one of them had looked forward to accomplishing their daily tasks like they used to in the days past. But they never knew that the untoward lurked ahead. Now, some of them are no more.
NRC’s regrets
For the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), it was an accident of terrific proportion. This was the perspective of the agency as it reflected on the accident of that fateful day.
Speaking through its Director, Operations, Mr Niyi Alli, NRC expressed regrets at the ugly train-bus collision.
“It was a very unfortunate, a very, very sad incident,” Alli told our correspondent, his voice almost muffled with sadness.
He added: “First, we must commiserate with the families of the victims of that incident. It was something we all in the railway sector are very unhappy about.”
Avoiding PWD accident repeat
Alli said aside regretting the March 8 accident, NRC was concerned about ensuring safety at the various level crossings across the country especially in the Lagos area.
He said: “There are three ways level crossings are being managed. We have the human expressions whereby we put some staff who to stop vehicles and open the tracks at a level crossing at the approach of the train.
“We have gates and automation, and we have the grade separation whereby the roads and tracks do not actually meet. It is either the road goes above the track or under the track.
“The focus going forward is grade separation so that there will be no interface between the road and the tracks.”
He recalled that “at Ikeja Along, the road now, such has been completed. And what we see is an overpass – the road going above the track. We will move to PWD level crossing and that will start in the next couple of weeks. The reason we didn’t commence that is because we have an agreement with the Lagos State government not to shut all the level crossings at the same time, bearing in mind the sheer weight of the traffic in the city.
“But at the completion of that project, the PWD level crossing will cease to exist. And what we will have there will be grade separation.
“At Oyigbo, a bridge is being constructed across the track. People coming from the Murtala Mohammed Way will go all the way up and descend on Apapa road. That is the long term plan.
“At other level crossings, the plan is to put level crossing barriers. Most of them still have that; those of them that don’t have it at the moment, when we will look at the history of why they don’t have it, we see that such facility was destroyed either by trucks or cars.
“The level crossing at PWD has a keeper; we used to have the police and even Lagos State traffic management officials there sometimes too.”
Motorists must respect level crossing signs
Alli said that it was imperative for motorists to observe the various signs planted at level crossings to avoid a repeat of the March 8 tragedy.
Hear him: “We appeal to Nigerians to respect the signs, and instructions being given to them at level crossings. We hope that gradually, with the grade separation and introduction of automation, such places will be better places for all of us.”
Traders, intruders on tracks
Alli said that the NRC was unhappy with the conduct of Nigerians on various rail tracks, describing such activities as “injurious to our operations.”
He was particular about individuals who trade on the rail lines.
“We have a taskforce that raids them in the morning,” he recalled, adding “but in the evening they are back. The next day they will still be there.
“We are talking to not just the Lagos, but to other states governments to ensure that level crossings are kept clear. The enforcement is critical to what we are trying to do.
“We are also trying to talk to the people to stop trespassing on the railway line. It is an ongoing matter we will continue to address.
“But I want to use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians to know that the railway track is not a market place. Even walking along the rail track is a criminal offence. It is trespass which can attract prosecution. So, these are the things we are doing, and we will continue to enforce them as we go along.
“If you look at the Highway Code for drivers, one of the signs people must know is that if you are approaching a level crossing you must stop and obey the instructions of anyone who is in authority at that place. We are talking to the likes of Federal Roads Safety Corp and other authorities that are in charge of safety.
“The drivers must know that the fact remains that they must stop at level crossings. We will continue to make this message clearer and reinforce it more during our discussions with the FRSC that people should get to know more of this when they are doing their driving test. We will continue to ensure that every level crossing in the country is manned by human beings 24/7. And if there is any danger, they should be able to stop the train in time before it gets to the level crossing.
“There are cases where vehicles have broken down on level crossings. In situations like that, it is easy to stop the train long before an accident occurs.
“But the worse case is when a motorist tries to go before the train. At that time, the braking system of the train has become very, very limited. It becomes very difficult for the driver to stop the train without derailing it and putting the lives of every other person on board at risk.
“Going forward, we will activate our advocacy machinery because safety is a process. And in situations like this, we will continue to talk to FRSC to make people imbibe what the Highway Code says. We will continue to do this through adverts and jingles; we have not stopped and will not stop. It is like a social responsibility to do that.”
He also warned people who “bathe and go to toilet or build houses or trespass on the railway tracks” assuring that the NRC would continue talking to them to stop that.
“It is not safe for them and it is not safe for the trains because such might lead to derailment. It is not good as it might also lead to collisions and accidents. These are things we will continuously do; we will strive to educate Nigerians about that. There are also penalties for trespasses, and we will continue to enforce such.
“It is extremely difficult, but it is our job to ensure that people stay away from the tracks.
“Once people are on the tracks, the trains have to slow down, which means that our times cannot be kept; that also means that we cannot run our trains at optimal speed. Meaning a journey of an hour has to take two hour because the train has to go on extremely slow speed. So, it is in the interest of all of us to keep off the tracks so that we can optimise our safety records, and run our trains at the designed speed and provide faster journeys to Nigerians,” he said.
Rail track traders not deterred
Even after the train-bus accident that claimed lives, traders on that corridor said that they were not deterred by half, insisting that they have to conduct their businesses on the tracks.
When our correspondent visited, the traders who predominantly deal in used clothes were seen on the rail displaying their wares, some under huge umbrellas.
Tony, a middle-aged man, who claimed he had been around over the past five years said: “The accident that happened last week Thursday morning did not stop us from displaying our wares and doing our normal businesses.
“Although it was a horrible incident that recorded instant deaths, that didn’t stop us from looking for our daily bread; it is here that we earn our legitimate livelihood.
“Do not forget that we have Iya-Oloja to whom we pay N500-N600 daily each as the case maybe. We pay over a N100,000 in a month to be allowed to trade here; we are not here for free.”
He recalled that “not long after the emergency responders completed their job at the accident scene, we brought out our wares and began to attend to our customers.”
He disclosed that some of them have shops but sometimes prefer to come to strategic places like the railway line where people always pass.
“When the business is dull, we come out to where people will see us and patronise us. Our customers are people we describe as ‘on-the-spot buyers because they might not have plans to shop as they cross the rail line into Ikeja GRA, but on sighting an attractive clothe, they might stop over to buy.”
Talking about how they avoid the trains, Tony, pointing at his table, said: “You see where I place my table? It is far away from the rail line; even if there is derailment, it will not affect my table, but the ones on the floor are quickly removed the moment we sight the train from a distance; even if the owner is not within, others will help to remove the wares before the train approaches.
“We have been here for years and there has not been any news of the train killing any of us.”
Another trader, Jude, popularly called ‘Arusi-Ego’ also said that they were at the area to hustle to survive.
“Business is not too bad here because it is an open place; it is not hidden; customers come to us regularly; often we don’t go looking for them.”
He too noted that “some people who already have shops chose to join us because its strategic, especially in the evenings when workers close from work. At that time, this place is a beehive.”
He recalled that even after the accident had occurred, “people still came here to make purchases.”
Mrs Blessing Adeniran also called Iya Tayo who hawks cold beverage drinks on the railway line said that she treks from PWD to Ikeja-Along and back many times in the day in the course of her business.
“I normally sit at that corner when I am tired to do my business, but I often hawk around,” she said, describing the accident that occurred as “the handwork of the devil, because we have not seen such in all the years we have been trading here.”
LAMATA too appeals on Lagos Blue Line
Meanwhile, the Lagos Light Blue Rail being managed by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) is putting huge measures in place to ensure that accidents are avoided on it tracks.
To this end, metal barriers are being erected on both sides of the rail tracks to dissuade residents from crossing the rail lines which are said to be heavily electrified.
The Lagos Blue Line is a 27-kilometre rail facility that runs from Marina to Okokomaiko along the Lagos-Badagry corridor. Phase 1 of the project which is believed to be 13kms long, stretches from Marina to Mile 2. A test run of the trains was carried out recently.
Now, bearing in mind that some residents might be unwilling, to listen to pleas to avoid the lines, LAMATA decided to erect barriers to stop the residents from either vandalsing or trespassing on the lines.
Unlike the diesel-powered trains, “the Red Line will be operated on Electric Motor Units (EMUs) consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity for motive power.”
Recently, LAMATA Managing Director, Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, an engineer, was quoted as appealing to city residents not to vandalise or cross the tracks, warning of dire consequences as the facility is powered by high-voltage electricity.
“I want to speak about owning this infrastructure. Let us not under any circumstance begin to vandalise it. If the state spends money three times on something that it is supposed to do once, then all of us will be the ones paying,” she said.
Then she added: “The rail tracks are electrified. Please don’t cross it. Under no circumstance should you cross the tracks. “We’ve been talking about it, and we’ll continue to talk about it. Don’t cross it. Use the overhead bridges that we have provided.”