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The Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Dr. Ayodele Ogunsan, has said the assets of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) require urgent and sustained security protection against kidnapping, vandalism and other criminal activities.
Ogunsan spoke at the weekend during a visit to the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Ebute-Metta, where, on behalf of the LSSTF, he donated two patrol vehicles to the Railway Police Command and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Railway Command to strengthen security operations around railway facilities and corridors.
He said the intervention was part of the Fund’s broader strategy to extend security support across critical transportation infrastructure in Lagos.
According to him, railway assets are increasingly exposed to security threats, making their protection a priority.
“Railway assets require protection from kidnapping, vandalism, criminal activity and other threats. For LSSTF under my watch, this makes the railway corridor an important frontier in its broader security intervention strategy. The Fund’s engagement with the Nigeria Railway Corporation is therefore not simply another equipment donation; it represents an effort to build a security partnership around an increasingly important transportation ecosystem. The intervention effectively extends the LSSTF’s security-support footprint across the four major transportation domains: road safety management, waterways, aerial surveillance and now rail transportation.
“It also reinforces the Fund’s long-standing position that security is strongest when government agencies, communities, infrastructure managers and other stakeholders work as partners rather than isolated institutions.”
Ogunsan said his relationship with the NRC Managing Director, Dr. Kayode Opeifa, dated back to Opeifa’s days in the Lagos State Government, where he served in key transportation positions.
He said the relationship made it easier for him to immediately key into the initiative to strengthen security around the railway system.
“When this idea came that we must secure our railway, immediately I connected with him, because the bond between security and transportation is very key,” Ogunsan said.
He explained that the LSSTF had deliberately expanded its security interventions beyond a single mode of transportation, stressing that the Fund was already supporting security operations across the air, waterways and land transportation sectors.
“We have eyes in air transport, waterways, and here we are talking about land and then we talk about rail,” he said.
According to him, the Fund has continued to support security operations in the aviation sector through surveillance and collaboration with the Police Air Wing, while also contributing to security operations on the waterways and roads.
“Now we are telling Lagosians, especially the users of our rail, that Lagos State Security Trust Fund is also putting searchlight on the railway.
“We want to make sure that everybody who uses all our railway stations believes that the place, that space, is also very safe. And we are going to pay more attention to it,” he declared.
The LSSTF boss described the two patrol vehicles as a practical demonstration of the Fund’s commitment to railway security and urged the Police and NSCDC to ensure that the vehicles were used strictly for patrol and operational duties.
“Please, take ownership of these assets. These assets are very expensive,” Ogunsan said.
“This vehicle is not an official vehicle. It is meant for patrol. And if you use it for that reason, then we’ll be encouraged to do more.”
He disclosed that the LSSTF had established a monitoring mechanism to track the use of vehicles and other equipment donated to security agencies.
According to him, responsible management of the assets would encourage the Fund to provide additional support.
“When we came into office, we came up with the Lagos State Security Trust Fund Monitoring Unit. That monitoring department goes all around to tell us the usage of our vehicles.
“The moment they give us a positive response or report, we add more to your assets,” he said.
Ogunsan also reminded stakeholders that the LSSTF was donor-funded and depended substantially on voluntary contributions from individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses, corporate organisations and government interventions.
“Everything we do at the Lagos State Security Trust Fund is through your voluntary donation as individual, as entrepreneur, private sector, and sometimes the government of the State,” he explained.
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He therefore urged the railway community, businesses and other corporate stakeholders to support the Fund to enable it to provide more equipment and other forms of assistance to security agencies.
Responding, NRC Managing Director, Dr. Kayode Opeifa, expressed appreciation to the LSSTF and Ogunsan, noting that the latest donation was not the first intervention by the Fund in support of railway security.
“They have done this kind of donation before. This is about the second or third time, and they have been doing it consistently,” Opeifa said.
He also thanked Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, for his support for the railway community, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, roads, street lighting and drainage.
Opeifa disclosed that Sanwo-Olu had facilitated a major storm-water drainage project around the railway compound, which he said had helped to address flooding challenges in the area.
The NRC managing director appealed to other state governments hosting railway infrastructure to develop similar partnerships with the corporation.
“We want you, the government, to also support us. I also want to mention the Governor of Abia has promised to do wonderful things for the communities in Abia and Umuahia.
“The Governor of Enugu has also promised to support our security system and hospitals,” he said.
Opeifa described the Lagos-NRC relationship as an example of what sustained collaboration between government institutions and infrastructure managers could achieve.
He stressed that the railway was not merely a transportation system but also a network of communities spread across the country.
The NRC chief further encouraged individuals and corporate organisations to contribute to the LSSTF, noting that its interventions directly strengthened the operational capacity of security personnel.
On the operational impact of the donated vehicles, the representative of the Railway Police Command, DCP Yahaya Mana, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, expressed appreciation to the LSSTF and the NRC management.
“I want to say thank you to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund and the NRC MD. If not for him, we wouldn’t have seen something of such.
“But we appreciate him for doing this, and I believe this is just the beginning of it. More and more are coming through our MD,” he said.
Similarly, the representative of the NSCDC Railway Command, ACC Ademola Adetola, described the intervention as the beginning of a new phase in railway security.
“This is the start of a new era of safety. I thank you for the special place you have given us,” he said.
Adetola said the vehicles would boost the command’s operational effectiveness and strengthen security around railway facilities.
The visit also assumed an unusual dimension when Ogunsan was taken on a special ride in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle capable of travelling both on conventional roads and railway tracks.
The vehicle, fitted with conventional road tyres as well as metallic railway wheels, offered the LSSTF boss a firsthand experience of a unique form of railway mobility.
Clearly impressed by the experience, Ogunsan described the trip as one of the most unusual experiences of his life.
“What I’ve never experienced before in my life, I experienced this here,” he said.
“I didn’t come here by road. I came here by rail. But there’s something about that trip that I’m still trying to fathom.”
