On Sunday, a train transporting fertilizer from Lagos to Kaduna derailed at Omi-Adio area of Ibadan, Oyo State which immediately blocked the railway crossing and caused a gridlock.
Fortunately, no life was lost and the goods were intact after the accident.
According to reports, an official of the Nigeria Railway Corporation in Ibadan said the Ibadan office of the NRC had no equipment to channel the train back on the rail but the railway crossing had been cleared for vehicles to pass.
He said, “The train, which is called Fertilizer Special, was conveying fertiliser from Lagos to Kaduna en-route to Ibadan. It derailed around Omi-Adio in Ibadan and could not continue the journey. The train did not fall off the track, so no injury was recorded and no life was lost. Because it did not fall, it did not spill its contents. It has to be re-railed before it can continue. Unfortunately, what is required to do that is a crane, which is not available in the Ibadan office of the NRC. What is available here is the track jerk which cannot do work of this magnitude. A crane has to be brought from Lagos for the train to continue the journey. The delay is inevitable after what happened. Officials of the NRC in Ibadan responded immediately after the incident happened and the railway crossing has been cleared for vehicles to pass.”
Investigation is underway to unravel the circumstances that led to the derailment and to forestall a recurrence.
