The Federal Government says it may consider capital punishment
for railway track vandals in the country.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
![image](/2021/05/lawp.jpg")
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, said this
during a Town Hall Meeting on ”Protecting Public Infrastructure ”
on Monday in Abuja.
![image](/2021/05/NBASBL2021.jpg")
According to Amaechi, rail track vandalism is a capital offense
and its consequences should be treated as such.
”I am not quantifying the material cost; what I am quantifying
is the lives that will be lost.
”Imagine that a driver of a rail track is driving and suddenly
bumps into a track that has been severed what happens? It will
derail.
”Each coach in Nigeria carries about 85 passengers, sometimes we
carry 14 coaches, sometimes 20.
”So imagine you are carrying a train of 14 or 20 coaches with 85
passengers in each coach, if it derails, can you quantify how many
passengers that would have died in the course of one man thinking
he is making money.
”So, it is not about the cost but the lives that would have been
lost because of few interest.
”Some people have recommended that since this people are killing
people, if accident happens people will die, so we should go back
to the National Assembly and pass a law that does not only
criminalise the action but consequences should be death,” he
said.
The minister further suggested that if armed robbery weather
successful or not attracts life imprisonment, rail track vanderlism
should not be any less.
According to him, the track vanderlism is being done in
collaboration with foreign partners.
”In Jos they arrested a Chinese company that bought those tracks
from them, went to court and court found them guilty and fined them
N200, 000.
”So there must be consequences as N200,000 is not enough. ”
Amaechi commended residents along the Lagos-Ibadan rail track as
no incident of vanderlism had been recorded along the route.
“ Lagos and the Western District recorded one, North Western 31,
Northern District 10, North Eastern 43, Eastern 36 and North
Central 50 incidents of vanderlism.
”Abuja-Kaduna has 13, Warri-Itakpe 2 and Lagos -Ibadan
nill.”
He said the ministry and the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC)
was working at reducing the rate of vanderlism but a lot still
needed to be done.
The minister frowned at the rate at which the tracks were being
converted to shops and restaurants, especially in Port Harcourt and
in Lagos.
He called on such offenders to desist or face the penalties.
”The solution is put them in jail. All you need to do is pass a
law, put them in jail. I’m sure if you take 15 to 30 people to
court, if they are found guilty and you put them in jail it will
deter others.
”People have seized our lands and converted them to markets.
”We need people to leave our tracks alone for safety
purposes,”Amaechi said.
The Managing Director, NRC, Mr Fidet Okhiria also reiterated the
need to penalise rail track vandals in the country to determine
other offenders.
“It is dangerous, it can lead to death of people, delays
operation and it is cost effective.
”Due to the vanderlism, we have to send a monitoring train
before we send a train, it cost money running in this condition and
in some areas we are not able to run a train.
”What are trying to do is to sensitise, let the communities know
that government property is their own and to deploy more
securities.
”The best thing is to sanitise our minds, knowing that if you
vanderlise the track, you don’t know of who will be affected.
”Technology is not cheap and any punishment that will deter
these offenders I will support, ” Okhiria.
NAN reports that the meeting, organised by the Ministry of
Information was attended by Community Chiefs, Security Personnel
and various stakeholders.
The Federal Government says it may consider capital punishment
for railway track vandals in the country.
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, said this
during a Town Hall Meeting on ”Protecting Public Infrastructure ”
on Monday in Abuja.
According to Amaechi, rail track vandalism is a capital offense
and its consequences should be treated as such.
”I am not quantifying the material cost; what I am quantifying
is the lives that will be lost.
”Imagine that a driver of a rail track is driving and suddenly
bumps into a track that has been severed what happens? It will
derail.
”Each coach in Nigeria carries about 85 passengers, sometimes we
carry 14 coaches, sometimes 20.
”So imagine you are carrying a train of 14 or 20 coaches with 85
passengers in each coach, if it derails, can you quantify how many
passengers that would have died in the course of one man thinking
he is making money.
”So, it is not about the cost but the lives that would have been
lost because of few interest.
”Some people have recommended that since this people are killing
people, if accident happens people will die, so we should go back
to the National Assembly and pass a law that does not only
criminalise the action but consequences should be death,” he
said.
The minister further suggested that if armed robbery weather
successful or not attracts life imprisonment, rail track vanderlism
should not be any less.
According to him, the track vanderlism is being done in
collaboration with foreign partners.
”In Jos they arrested a Chinese company that bought those tracks
from them, went to court and court found them guilty and fined them
N200, 000.
”So there must be consequences as N200,000 is not enough. ”
Amaechi commended residents along the Lagos-Ibadan rail track as
no incident of vanderlism had been recorded along the route.
“ Lagos and the Western District recorded one, North Western 31,
Northern District 10, North Eastern 43, Eastern 36 and North
Central 50 incidents of vanderlism.
”Abuja-Kaduna has 13, Warri-Itakpe 2 and Lagos -Ibadan
nill.”
He said the ministry and the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC)
was working at reducing the rate of vanderlism but a lot still
needed to be done.
The minister frowned at the rate at which the tracks were being
converted to shops and restaurants, especially in Port Harcourt and
in Lagos.
He called on such offenders to desist or face the penalties.
”The solution is put them in jail. All you need to do is pass a
law, put them in jail. I’m sure if you take 15 to 30 people to
court, if they are found guilty and you put them in jail it will
deter others.
”People have seized our lands and converted them to markets.
”We need people to leave our tracks alone for safety
purposes,”Amaechi said.
The Managing Director, NRC, Mr Fidet Okhiria also reiterated the
need to penalise rail track vandals in the country to determine
other offenders.
“It is dangerous, it can lead to death of people, delays
operation and it is cost effective.
”Due to the vanderlism, we have to send a monitoring train
before we send a train, it cost money running in this condition and
in some areas we are not able to run a train.
”What are trying to do is to sensitise, let the communities know
that government property is their own and to deploy more
securities.
”The best thing is to sanitise our minds, knowing that if you
vanderlise the track, you don’t know of who will be affected.
”Technology is not cheap and any punishment that will deter
these offenders I will support, ” Okhiria.
NAN reports that the meeting, organised by the Ministry of
Information was attended by Community Chiefs, Security Personnel
and various stakeholders.