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By Fidelis Ugbomeh
Before now, railway stations served as rallying points for passengers and tourists such that development of some cities, towns and markets centred around proximity to the stations.
The stations were so relevant to the extent that wreckage of boat used to discover River Niger by Mungo Park and first Coal engine that railed on narrow gauge tracks were displayed at Jebba and Minna railway stations respectively for interested passengers/tourists on board Lagos-Kano, Port-Harcourt-Lagos and Lagos-Maiduguri passenger trains to drop down at the duo stations to catch a glimpse of these monuments during stopovers.
However, as frequency of trains and population continued to expand, coupled with hindered access to rail tracks, this development snowballed into erection/construction of illegal structures near railway sub-stations, habited by questionable characters especially in Lagos.
Prohibition
Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) in response to petitions challenging illegal leases/sales of land/properties last year, advised interested parties seeking either land leases or properties to obtain approvals from Railway Property Management Company Limited.
In a letter signed by managing director of the corporation, Dr. Kayode Opeifa to railway district managers and co-ordinators, he cautioned them against sales of railway properties or lease of land.
According to the letter titled: “Strict warning against unauthorised sales /lease or allocation of railway landed properties”, he stated categorically that it has come to the attention of management that some officers have been engaging in lease, allocation or unauthorised dealings in NRC landed properties without proper documentation or approval from office of the managing director of the corporation.
Opeifa stated inter alia that “No railway district manager is authorised to engage in any form of transaction, allocation or disposal of NRC landed property without explicit written approval from office of managing director, NRC or managing director, Railway Property Management Company Limited Mr.Timothy Zalanga”.
He warned that any staff found to be involved in Illegal leasing of land to squatters will be sanctioned according to the rules and regulations of the corporation.
Opeifa also restated that trading and construction of structures along railway corridors is illegal
Burning exercise
Barely one month after Lagos state task force burnt/demolished illegal structures housing squatters along Iju-Agege railway corridor, another set of makeshift structures have started taking shape.
Recall that the demolition/burning exercise, started in early hours of the morning on that faithful Thursday, March 26, amid tight security.
The task force alongside Lagos State ministry of environment officials burnt/demolished illegal structures with bulldozers as dislodged occupants gathered and grumbled in hushed tones.
During the excercise, some affected squatters showed signs of resistance setting up bornefire with used tyres in the middle of railway tracks.
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This resulted into thick dark smoke that enveloped the air thereby affecting vehicular, train and pedestrian movements within “Fagba Junction” and environs.
Delay of trains
The managements of Nigerian Railway Corporation’s (NRC) and Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) had to delay their separate mass transit train services for more than 2 hours.
In the process, two Lagos mass transit trains destined for Apapa and Iddo which departed Kajola and Ijoko by 6.30a.m respectively on Thursday, March 26, were first delayed at Iju for more than 2 hours due to poor visibility and the need to safeguard stocks/passengers until it was deemed safe before the trains were released.
The third train operated by NRC from Ijoko-Iddo arrived Lateef Jakande terminal at about 9.00 a.m instead of 7.25 a.m due to late departure occasioned by delay of the two trains ahead.
As the third train moved towards Iju-Abbatoir corridor, the evicted squatters threw stones at the moving train just as railway officers on board slided down the windows to protect passengers while others screamed and scampered for safety.
The only train that did not experience delay was first LAMATA train which departed Lateef Jakande terminal at about 6.20 a.m in the morning
The second LAMATA train earlier scheduled to depart LateefJakande terminal by 7.10 a.m to Oyingbo was delayed until much more later before it was released but the mid-morning train from Oyingbo to Lateef Jakande terminal at Agbado was cancelled for safety reasons.
Reactions
However, close watchers familiar with demolition exercises carried out in the past by Lagos state task force expressed mixed feelings about the demolition/burning exercise, saying Lagos state government should either relocate the Abattoir or provide alternative accommodation for the squatters whose livelihood depends on daily earnings from butchers.
Mr. Tunde Ajala, a resident of Iju, noted that while animals like cows, sheep and goats are sluttered inside the abattoir, majority of the humans that sluttered these animals live inside the illegal structures around.
He explained further that squatters in densely populated railway corridors from Oyingbo-Iddo, Yaba-Mushin/Oshodi, to Agege-Iju and Apapa have leaders who gave approvals to interested people to erect structures of different shapes in their various domains
“This is to ensure that intruders without proper authorisation of the leaders of the groups are not allowed to erect structures without paying a stipulated amount depending on the railway corridor of interest”, he said.
Ajala advised government and relevant agencies to engage the leaders of the various groups so as to seek their inputs before carrying out demolition/burning exercises.
He also suggested that a combined team of Nigerian railway police and it’s civil defence counterpart as well as Lagos state task force should be stationed permanently at “Fagba Junction”, and other locations like Yaba, Oshodi and Agege to mention but a few.
An official of Nigerian Railway Corporation who spoke under anonymity disclosed that as much as the last demolition/burning exercises were carried out in best interest of the public and residents within Iju and environs, management of the corporation was not carried along before the exercise was embarked upon.
He averred that the corporation is in a better position to advise the state government on approach that should be adopted in carrying out the exercise adding that it is not advisable to use fire as heat emanating from burnt structures could expand and affect the coefficient (linear) of metal tracks and soil structure respectively which could lead to derailment.
