The Borno State Government has expressed support for the street protests by residents of Goidamgari and the Railway Terminus general area of Maiduguri Metropolis concerning the contentious evacuation of train coaches from the state.
The story of the arrest of about six suspects who attempted to load three train coaches from the Railway Station terminus in Maiduguri had gone viral on both mainstream and social media platforms. The suspects were apprehended by the State Police Command following an intelligence report.
According to the State’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Yusuf Lawan, upon receiving a distress call from the Railway quarters, loader trucks were observed evacuating and loading property belonging to the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), including the three train coaches. The suspects claimed to have been assigned by the managing director of NRC to evacuate the coaches to Plateau State. However, they lacked the proper identification to verify their claims.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) admitted receiving official communication regarding the evacuation, but the police maintained that they had not been informed, leading to the arrest and detention of the suspects.
In response to the protests by hundreds of aggrieved residents who gathered at the station with placards bearing slogans like ‘We want our Railway coaches back’ and ‘No to evacuation of Railway facilities from Maiduguri.’
Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, represented by his deputy, Umar Kadafur, assured the protesters that the state government would not permit any railway facilities to leave Maiduguri. Instead, they would work diligently to revive the railway services for effective transportation and development.
Youth leader Mallam Abubakar expressed his dissatisfaction with the incident, emphasizing that Borno, which had suffered from over a decade of Boko Haram crisis, required government intervention in reconstruction, rehabilitation, resettlement, and the revitalization of railway services rather than the evacuation of its facilities.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has refuted claims that its train coaches were stolen from Maiduguri.
According to the Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria, the coaches were being moved by NRC officials to the Corporation’s Running Shed in Jos, Plateau State, for maintenance and to return them to operation. He explained that the NRC is working to expand Rail Mass Transit nationwide.
The Borno State government has called for calm regarding the planned evacuation of railway infrastructure to a running shed in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
A statement issued by the State’s Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof. Usman Tar, urged the public to be law-abiding and highlighted that railway infrastructure management is a federal matter within the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.
“The state remains peaceful and committed to restoring peace and security”, he said.
