Some clearing agents have raised concerns over the disconnection of the Apapa port from the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail. This is even as the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has assured that the disconnection was due to defects noticed on the tracks and commencement of repair works to fix the defects.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, a cross section of clearing agents explained that the Apapa port was disconnected from the standard gauge rail around the Ijora axis recently. According to the clearing agents, “Haven’t you journalist noticed that the Apapa port has been disconnected from the standard gauge rail around the Ijora area?
“The CCECC officials came and removed the rail tracks which heads straight to Apapa port. With the removal, it means the Lagos port is no longer connected to the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail. The idea of Mr President was to link the port to the rail, why did they (CCECC) disconnect the port from the standard gauge rail?”
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When asked why the Lagos port was removed from the standard gauge rail, the Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria explained that some defects were noticed around the Ijora axis of the track and the contractor was called back to fix the defect.
In the words of the NRC Managing Director, “After completion of the standard gauge rail tracks to the Apapa port, we discovered that there is a place after Ijora where the standard gauge rail passes through that used to be a refuse dump site. This was discovered after we carried out a soil test of the area. If such a place is not fixed, there will be issues with the standard gauge rail track maybe after six or seven years.
“So, we had to call back the contractor (CCECC) to come and fix the issue. The tracks had to be removed and a better rail formation is currently being made. We hope that by the end of March, 2022, the defect will be rectified and the Lagos port will be reconnected back to the standard gauge rail tracks.”
and then