‘I take full responsibility’ — NRC MD speaks on Abuja-Kaduna train derailment

Kayode Opeifa, managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), has asked Nigerians not to jump to conclusions on the cause of Tuesday’s Kaduna-bound train derailment.

Speaking on Wednesday during Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Opeifa said although investigations were ongoing, none of the suspicions surrounding the incident could be dismissed.

“Beyond apologising to Nigerians, I want to state clearly—as the managing director and chief executive—I take full responsibility,” he said.

“When it comes to safety, there is no room for indifference. Once something like this happens, the chief executive must own it—and I do.”

Opeifa said it would be premature to speak about possible sabotage, stressing that the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) must first complete its probe.

“It would be premature for me to speak on that because that will be undermining the authority that is meant to do the investigation. But I want to assure Nigerians that our tracks are safe from vandals and terrorists,” he said.

“This particular track is being monitored by the military. You can see that immediately it (the derailment) happened, within five, 10 minutes, the helicopter was there hovering.

“The Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian army are all along this corridor, and I think, for the record, we’ve not had any issue of banditry, terrorism attack along that corridor. But you can’t wish anything away.

“The investigation will tell us what happened, and I wouldn’t want to comment because I’m a party to the investigation.”

The NRC boss said four passengers sustained serious injuries and are receiving medical attention, while at least two others were discharged.

“Coming to the fatality and the casualties, there was no fatality. We thank God. That was a near miss because for this kind of accident or incident, you see some level of fatality, but we thank God for this.

“And for those who were injured, four are serious, and another two or so were discharged immediately, and we will follow up on those that might still be in the hospital,” he said.

Opeifa added that the corporation would also monitor all 618 passengers who were on board for post-traumatic effects.

The NRC chief said he had ordered the suspension of Abuja-Kaduna train operations pending clearance from investigators.

“The first thing that will happen is that the NSIB will determine when the site is open for reconstruction,” he said.

“So, from the time they tell us that it’s ready for reconstruction, I don’t see us spending more than 30 days.”

The derailment occurred on Tuesday around 11 am shortly after the train departed Abuja for Kaduna.