Train forced to stop in bush as hoodlums damage Lagos-Ibadan railway track

Hoodlums activities on the railway track forced train movement on the Lagos-Ibadan Railway section to temporarily stop on Saturday.

Passengers aboard the train which departed the Obafemi Awolowo Train Station in Ibadan at 8:30am on Saturday were said to have been forced to stop somewhere before Funmilayo Ransom Kuti at the Papalanto area due to the alleged removal of some components on the railway track by some vandals.

A passenger, who is a lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Dr Feyi Leo, told our correspondent that fear gripped her and other passengers when the train was forced to stop.

Leo said the train coming from Lagos to Ibadan was also forced to stop in the opposite direction and the two trains continued the journey after the damaged section had been fixed.

She said, “The trip was smooth and we had gone past the station at Abeokuta and moving towards Papalanto when the train stopped and it reversed some few meters.

“We were agitated and started asking questions. An announcement was made by the NRC official on board that their technicians were fixing a fault on the track and that it would not take long.

“True to their word, we left after 20 minutes of stoppage. But I was afraid while the whole thing lasted because of the materials on my laptop. There is no backup and it would have been a huge loss if anything had happened to my laptop.”

Another passenger, who identified himself as Promise said the temporary stoppage caused panic on board the train but said there were armed security agents on board and with the technicians who fixed the damaged track.

It was gathered that a similar incident happened two times in January and the trains were forced to stop for about 35 minutes before they continued with the journey. (Credit, except for amended headline: Saturday PUNCH)