By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has proposed that rail track vandalism is a capital offence that requires death penalty.
Amaechi said this during a Town Hall Meeting on ”Protecting Public Infrastructure” on Monday in Abuja.
NatureNews recalls that the month of May recorded many cases of rail vandalism including a case where a foreigner was caught in Nasarawa.
A Special Adviser to the Governor of Nasarawa State on Infrastructure, Yusuf Musa, was arrested for his alleged role in the vandalism of railway tracks, along with policemen and a Chinese national, named Marra Thai.
Amaechi speaking during the town hall meeting said as quoted by the Vanguard, ”I am not quantifying the material cost; what I am quantifying is the lives that will be lost.
”Imagine that a driver of a rail track is driving and suddenly bumps into a track that has been severed what happens? It will derail.
”Each coach in Nigeria carries about 85 passengers, sometimes we carry 14 coaches, sometimes 20.
”So imagine you are carrying a train of 14 or 20 coaches with 85 passengers in each coach, if it derails, can you quantify how many passengers that would have died in the course of one man thinking he is making money.
”So, it is not about the cost but the lives that would have been lost because of few interest.
”Some people have recommended that since this people are killing people, if accident happens people will die, so we should go back to the National Assembly and pass a law that does not only criminalise the action but consequences should be death,” he said.
The minister inform that the track vanderlism is being done in collaboration with foreign partners.
”In Jos they arrested a Chinese company that bought those tracks from them, went to court and court found them guilty and fined them N200, 000.
”So there must be consequences as N200,000 is not enough.
“ Lagos and the Western District recorded one, North Western 31, Northern District 10, North Eastern 43, Eastern 36 and North Central 50 incidents of vanderlism.
”Abuja-Kaduna has 13, Warri-Itakpe 2 and Lagos -Ibadan nill.”
He said the ministry and the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) was working at reducing the rate of vanderlism but a lot still needed to be done.
The minister frowned at the rate at which the tracks were being converted to shops and restaurants, especially in Port Harcourt and in Lagos.
He called on such offenders to desist or face the penalties.