Clampdown on train rooftop riders begins

NRC task force nabs 1OO persons
Two days after a near train disaster occurred at Mangoro, Agege area of Lagos State when a coach came off in motion, it was a stiff battle yesterday along the Iju-Oshodi rail track, as some passengers, who were sitting dangerously on the train roof and hanging on its side resisted arrest by the police.

After the operation, it was learnt that over 100 illegal passengers, popularly known as ‘rooftop riders’ were arrested by a combined team of the Railway Police, the Lagos State Police Command, the NRC Task Force and Man-O-War personnel, before being taken to the Ebute Meta office of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

One of the persons arrested at the Ikeja Along Bus Stop was shouting profusely that he was not sitting on the train roof, but wanted to alight from the train, before he was dragged by the policeman, who bundled him to meet his colleagues.

Also, a dispatch rider with The Guardian newspaper, who was coming from his Ifo, Ogun State home to work yesterday morning was among the suspects raided and hauled to the NRC office. Despite insisting he was not the train roof and presenting his tickets as a bonafide passenger in one of the coaches, he was still being detained as at press time yesterday evening.

Efforts to get the policemen at the scene to comment were not successful, but The Guardian trailed them conveying the arrested passengers to Ebute Meta where they were handed over to officials of the NRC at Alagomeji. Yet, they refused to comment, neither was The Guardian allowed access to any of the suspects.

The Lagos Railway District Manager of the NRC, Mr. Jerry Oche, however, said they initiated the raid with members of the railway task force team on the operation.

He claimed that the raid became necessary because last week, at Agege, rooftop riders mistakenly stoned a woman, who had a baby on her back and the baby died, which angered some of the residents in that area. He said this resulted in a free-for-all fight among some residents of Agege and the rooftop riders.

According to him, many of the rooftop riders move with sticks and dangerous weapons to attack their official, evade arrest or even avoid getting photographed by journalists or concerned citizens.

Oche said when the crisis became too much, the corporation had to stop its operation at Agege and Ikeja stations because of the rooftop riders.

“But there is no way we could allow this to continue without acting. So, we reached out to the Lagos State Police Command with support from our in-house officers, and this morning, we went for a raid and as we speak, we have about 100 persons we could also describe as hoodlums and miscreants.”

On the claim that some of the persons arrested were genuine passengers, Oche said that from the preliminary report he got, nobody who was not on top of the roof was arrested.“Though after every operation, we take stock, but I have not gotten any information that persons who were not on top of the roof were arrested. But if we find out that someone was mistakenly arrested after doing a profiling and he has his ticket with him, definitely we are not going to treat such person as a rooftop rider.”

He nonetheless said the corporation has issue with any passenger sitting on top of the train whether he has a ticket or not, because the ticket is for a seat in the coach not on top.

He also said there is no excuse for passengers to go on top of the train to commute even if the facility provided is not adequate to take all passengers at once.“Non-availability of space should not be an option for hanging or climbing to the roof of the train. Can you try it with an airplane?

“I once boarded and there was no seat, I did not climb on the plane, I had to go down. Or if it is a bus and the seats are filled, will you sit on top. Everyday, we do 16 trips. Of course, we have problem of capacity, but people should not climb on the train because of no space.

“Also, some of these rooftop passengers are criminals who are armed. Some of them sells drug on the train. So we really want to ensure that this does not continue on our train.”

He said the safety and security of passengers was paramount to the corporation and this had made the NRC to redesign the windows of the trains.

Oche, who said the raids would be a continuous process, added that the corporation would increase its police posts and the security personnel to ensure the safety of all passengers and NRC personnel on the trains.