12th January, 2017
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Lagos District, has said it will visit the Lagos State House of Assembly to enact a law criminalising rooftop train riders.
The NRC Lagos District Manager, Mr Jerry Oche, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday.
Oche said that miscreants had formed the habit of riding on roof top of the train and causing mayhem on innocent passengers, making the train ride insecure.
According to him, despite the huge arrest of the miscreants on November 2016, miscreants have formed the habit of discouraging numbers of passengers from riding on the train.
“We have decided to visit magistrates for them to see the gravity of the offences committed by the rooftop riders.
“Some magistrates at times only subject them to community services, we have had such experience before.
“We also planning a meeting with Lagos State House of Assembly so that they can come up with a bill that will criminalise roof top riding,’’ Oche said.
He reiterated that 36 people were charged to court on Nov. 9, 2016, out of the 105 suspected rooftop riders arrested.
Oche added that the suspects were made to pay N25,000 as fines, saying that the fine was just a way to discourage them from riding at the rooftop of the train.
“We have charged 36 out of over 105 suspects to court and the clampdown will continue, but we are meeting the lawmakers and the magistrates to criminalise the activities,’’ Oche said.
According to him, the miscreants have constituted a nuisance to the corporation’s mass transit shuttle service in Lagos and Ogun, causing harm and injuries to innocent passengers.
The manager said that the raids would continue, but the corporation was looking for permanent ways of stopping the menace of the rooftop riders.
He added that the corporation would increase its police posts and security personnel to ensure the safety of passengers and NRC personnel on the trains.
“Between November and December, we have been able to rehabilitate eight coaches with 90 passengers per coach which translate to 720 increase in our capacity.
Oche said that the corporation had put plans in place to increase the coaches and freight in 2017.