Over 1,500 train passengers stranded for 11 hours in Ibadan

OVER 1,500 train passengers, on Saturday morning, protested their maltreatment by the staff of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) at the Ibadan terminus of the corporation, having been stranded at the terminus for over 11 hours.

The passengers informed Sunday Tribune that the train they boarded from Lagos on Friday afternoon at Iddo terminus was  grounded at the Ibadan terminus since 8.00p.m. without adequate information by railway staff.

The train, according to investigation, left Iddo terminus on Friday afternoon around 1.00p.m. and arrived Ibadan terminus two and half hours behind schedule.

Some of the passengers who spoke with Sunday Tribune revealed that the train had  technical problem before taking off from Lagos, adding that on arriving Ibadan, they were told that there was a derailment along Iwo rail line axis.

According to them, the last time they were briefed by an officer of the corporation was around 11.00 p.m. on Friday that “a cargo train derailed along Iwo axis, promising that their engineers are working to fix it.

It was also gathered that the passengers got wind of their likely long stay at Dugbe terminus through some of the staffers of NRC who advised them to seek alternatives out of the situation.

One of the passengers also informed that since then, there had not been any further information on the true situation of things. He added that all efforts at getting further information proved abortive as the officers of the corporation later allegedly ran away from the station before 8.00 a.m. on Saturday without any solution.

At the moment, hundreds of the passengers are waiting on the next line of action from NRC officials while several others were already considering alternatives as of the time of filing this report.

Apart from the delay, the passengers also complained of inadequate welfare services by the staff and management of NRC.