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NPO Reports’ SAFIU KEHINDE takes a tour of major railway level-crossings against backdrop of last train/bus collision in Lagos claiming lives. His findings are revealing and instructive
The Cacophony at Level-Crossings
“Hired killer! Hired killer!!” The middle-aged beverage seller bellowed at her colleagues as she evacuated her wares off the Ikeja Along level crossing.
It was a frenzied scene to watch in a hot Thursday afternoon as traders and pedestrians scampered to safety while flag bearers yelled at those who seemed to be deaf to the scornful hooting of the oncoming train.
With the flag bearers taking position at both sides of the level crossing, the dreaded locomotive emblazoned with graffiti rumbled along the railway. The train corridor stood still as onlookers watched in silence, the moving train.
In less than two minutes, normalcy returned at the level crossing with traders resuming on their spots just as the last carriage disappeared off the track, leaving behind the haunting memory of the previous week’s train accident however.
The Tragedy This Time
Lagosians had, on Thursday 9th of March, 2023, woken up to the disturbing news of an accident involving Lagos State Government Staff Bus and a train. According to eyewitnesses, the unfortunate bus had collided with the train at PWD level crossing. To cross over before the train gets to the intersection, the driver reportedly ignored his passengers’ warning as well as the flag bearers. The bus was halfway through before the hooting train caught up with it, dragging the vehicle from the spot to Shogunle where it eventually stopped.
According to reports by several media, six people were confirmed dead- including a National Youth Service Corps member, while over eighty others sustained different degrees of injuries. This, however, contradicts the account given by a bus driver (name withheld) at the Public Works Department (PWD) where the accident occurred. He claimed the death toll was more than what was reported.
“Here alone, we evacuated not less than twenty dead victims let alone those who died at the hospital. But the newsmen won’t report the exact figure,” he said.
Similarly, Fatimah Ahmed, an engine oil seller at Shogunle bus-stop, claimed the death toll was more than six while also disclosing that a quick intervention by residents and an unidentified lady, who volunteered her car to evacuate the victims to the nearest hospital, saved the lives of most victims before the arrival of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
“There was a woman who volunteered to take the victims to the hospital with her car. She was later assisted by one other man in the rescue mission. All the victims were almost evacuated before the arrival of 112 (Rapid Response Squad). It took them over an hour before they arrived. Far too many lives would have been lost if we had waited for the emergency team’s arrival,” she said.
A Never Ending Carnage
That tells the story of the tragedy associated with trains in Nigeria, something that happens far in between but with much carnage that usual deserve national mourning.
A report by Statista recorded over 500 train accidents as at the end of 2018 most of which were credited to loss of control/locomotive failure, detachment, and derailment. Only 12 incidents were linked to collision. Recent cases of collision, such as the Lagos train accident, has, however, raised concerns and triggered new worries over the conduct of pedestrians and drivers along railroad, particularly at level crossings.
Following visits to four level-crossings across Lagos, NPO Reports observed the level of negligence and underestimation displayed by drivers, pedestrians, traders, and even beggars.
At Fagba/Iju-Ishaga level-crossing, NPO Reports correspondent saw drivers took no cognizance of the intersection as traffic congestion stretched over the level-crossing. In a conversation with a flag-bearer (name withheld) who has been working at the level-crossing for the past four years, it was revealed that about six trains ply the track everyday and drivers often disregard their warning signal when train approaches. He said some are even seen trying to manoeuvre before the train gets any closer, particularly motorcyclists.
“About six trains ply this track daily. Once we sight an oncoming train, we do flag down vehicles approaching the level-crossing. But motorcyclists here often disregard our warning and their passengers were often quiet as the riders manoeuvre with a train just few meters away.” The flag-bearer said.
He further recalled an incident where a vehicle got trapped right on the track, forcing an incoming train to a halt which prevented what would have been another train disaster.
“There was a day a vehicle developed fault right in the middle of this level-crossing with a train fast approaching. The train captain managed to bring the train to a halt before it could get to the level crossing. After finally stopping, some soldiers stepped out of the train and approached the broken vehicle. They damaged its windscreen before dealing with the driver,” he told the NPO Reports.
Similarly, a herbal mixture seller at PWD level-crossing popularly known as Aunty Keji decried the attitude and impatience displayed by road users at the intersection-particularly private car owners.
“Some drivers do go to the extent of physically assaulting the flag-bearers for stopping them. Our people-especially those ‘my car’, always believe nothing will happen. Whereas a lot are happening. If you come here when there is traffic congestion, you will see how they disregard the flag-bearers,” she said.
Recalling other incidents involving road users and train aside the staff bus accident, Aunty Keji narrated how a driver escaped death by whiskers at the level-crossing late last year.
“I could remember sometimes last year December, an incident happened right here which involved a Toyota Corolla car. A train was approaching that very day and the flag-bearers had flagged down vehicles on both sides of the level-crossing. But this driver, who thought the train was still a bit far away from the intersection, advanced to level crossing. Unfortunately for him, the train caught up with the car and the driver could not reverse as there were vehicles behind him. He was, however, fortunate to survive but the frontal part of the car was completely written off,” She narrated.
On the 10th of May, 2022, a commercial bus collided with a moving train while its passengers escaped death by whiskers at the railway crossing on Ilupeju by-pass. Although, no live was lost, two passengers sustained injury. The bus driver, according to reports, had ignored the passengers warning against crossing while the train was in sight.
Also in December 2022, an Abuja-bound train crushed a staff of the Nigerian Television Authority, Selimota Idowu, at the Federal Capital Territory. The train had reportedly rammed into the car of the TV Station’s Principal Accountant at a crossing in Chikakore axis of Kubwa.
The recent case at PWD level-crossing was indeed one too many as similar incident occurred in 2020 at the same spot. A passenger bus had intercepted the moving train which dragged it alongside a highlander SUV, claiming the life of two passengers instantly while several sustained different degrees of injury. Investigation would later reveal that another vehicle was affected by the collision.
Though the train and Staff Bus is the most recent among all, but still also fresh in the mind of traders around Ikeja Along railway corridor, is a 2018 train accident which claimed the life of a Youth Corps member identified as Nneka Odili. Recalling the incident, the beverage seller at Ikeja Along level-crossing, Toyin Ayeni, narrated how the late corps member had met her death.
“We have saved a lot of people at this level-crossing on several occasions. Most of them are always on earpiece. We are the ones who usually call their attention to oncoming trains and even pull them back in some cases.
“I could recall a train accident that involved a youth corps member where I was before relocating here. The lady was on earpiece, unaware of the oncoming train. A passerby tried pulling her back but she broke free from the person’s grip only for her to get crushed by the train,” she said.
Speaking with a taxi driver, who pleaded anonymity at the Jibowu, Yaba car park, the government, according to him, knows what best to do in terms of ensuring the safety of road users at level-crossing areas. He stressed that most motorists in Lagos, aside being impatient, have no knowledge of highway codes and as such, the government needs to construct barricades and also deploy security operatives at the level-crossings to ensure compliance and orderliness.
“The government needs to provide 24 hours security here to prevent future occurrences. Most of those driving in Lagos today are impatient. In fact, not all of them know the highway codes. But if there is heavy presence of security, they will comply.
“The flag-bearers are doing their job, but if there is a barrier here, it will be more effective as no driver will want to bump on the barriers,” he said.
Aside impatience from motorists’ end, level-crossings across Lagos, indeed, pose a great threat to life as barriers which serves as precautionary measure are absent at most level-crossings which include Fagba/Iju-Ishaga, PWD, and Ikeja Along, Bodija, Sango in Ibadan, Oke Oniti, Old Garrage, Osogbo and many more. The only visible one mounted at Jibowu level-crossing has not been functioning for years.
NRC’s Frustrated Over Damaged Facilities
However, Nigerian Railway Corporation’s Managing Director, Fidet Okhira, had recently claimed that the Corporation made provisions for barriers but were mostly vandalized and crashed into by motorists while revealing there are ongoing constructions of flyovers to curb the challenge.
“We are going to have 11 flyovers within Lagos and we cannot do all at the same time. We are constructing them in batches.
“Before now, we constructed barriers and they were vandalized. We even constructed automatic barriers which were also vandalized,” he said.
Similarly, the NRC Lagos Headquarters Public Relations Officer, Mr. Yakub Mahmood, in a telephone conversation, denied absence of barricades at the level-crossings. He also claimed the Corporation made provisions for them, but were mostly vandalized.
“There were barricades. But they have been crashed by the motorists and some were vandalized.” He said.
He, however, pointed at the ongoing flyover constructions as the Corporation’s attempt to curb train/motorists collision.
“But what we are doing now is the construction of overpass just as seen at Fagba and there is also one under construction at Costain,” he added.
But then, it is clear the NRC is yet to come to terms with the realities of modern railway infrastructure that make such vandalisations almost impossible
As things stand, it looks like such tragedies will only stop when the unbreakable barriers are constructed as it is done in other parts of the world where train transportation is taken much more seriously.