Enugu gives 24- hour ultimatum to railways to replace malfunctioning facilities

The Enugu State Government on Wednesday gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to replace malfunctioning facilities in the state to avoid train accident.

The ultimatum was sequel to the killing of a resident of the state by a train on Tuesday along the Ogbete Main Market Enugu.

It could be recalled that the victim, Ikechukwu Imediagwu, a native of
Isikwuato in Abia State, the only son of his parents, died instantly, while other persons were said to have sustained injuries.

A government delegation led by the State’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Sam Ogbu Nwobodo, expressed anger at the railway crossing in Ogbete Market Enugu, where it discovered that none of the barriers was in good working condition.

Other government officials on the team included the Commissioner for
transport, Vitalis Okechi, the caretaker chairmen of Enugu North and Enugu South, Isaac Igwe and Sunday Ugwu among others.

Officials of the Railway Corporation and men of the police traffic unit had engaged in heated argument, as the latter and other eye witnesses insisted that nobody was on ground to give signal before the train suddenly bumped into the market road.
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Nwobodo, however, intervened insisting that government must get to the root of the matter as it was not ready to toy with lives of residents.

“We are talking of loss of life here and I want us to bear that in mind. All the parties involved must cooperate with the government to ensure that this does not happen again.