A ride on the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s many trains, particularly in Lagos, can be an adventure full of fun but rich in the absurd, even the unexpected. Perhaps nothing can be more bizarre than seeing many passengers hanging and sitting precariously on the roof of fast moving trains.
Even when it is a serious cause for concern, this life-threatening practice has been a long standing culture that many living in Lagos and parts of Ogun State – largely the hoi polloi – seem to enjoy.
One needs to experience this drama first hand by going on the trains shuttling between Iddo Terminus and Alagbado both in Lagos State. It is a two-hour journey which provides huge insights full of indelible impressions difficult to erase, at least not in one whole attempt.
Deadly According to investigations by Daily Sun, during the morning and evening rush hours, there is probably no difference between the NRC’s coaches and the ubiquitous and notorious Lagos molue buses, which are now becoming extinct.
The Lagos Alagbado bound trains are usually filled to the brim and bursting at the seams. Many who probably can’t find a standing space go on the roofs where they enjoy life to the hilt. Indeed, the culture has long stuck. On this fateful Friday, this reporter set out to see the dramatic by going on one of the trains. This Alagbado-bound craft was flagged off at Iddo Terminus in Lagos at about 5pm.
On board were largely some scruffy-looking folks. Some, the reporter learnt, were area boys returning from Lagos Island where they ply their trade. You could identify them by their guttural language and trademark mannerisms. Before the train hit Mushin station, the coaches were already filled, making it difficult for everyone on board to even have a space to breathe. Yet more passengers kept coming on, such that every little space at the exits was taken up.
Many were cloistered at the coaches’ joints. Quite a number of the passengers were seen latching at the engine’s corridor. The rest found their way to the roof, chanting and singing their type of songs.
Bola, who works on Lagos Island, noted that many passengers riding on the roofs do so not because they don’t have money to buy their tickets. “Those people you see there actually bought their tickets.
They have valid tickets which they purchased from the railway stations. But they prefer to sit on the roof of the train to catch some fun because the spot offers them unlimited freedom to smoke Indian hemp and even enjoy hard drugs. Out there they also catch some fresh air,” he informed.
He further revealed that because of the vantage position the train’s roof offers the hooligans, “the ticket masters dare not go there. Not even the police. Dem no born them well. Those hoodlums will throw them down if they dare.” Mr. David Ndakotso, an Assistant Director, Public Relations, Nigerian Railway Corporation said the practice was condemnable. “But this has two dimensions,” he submitted. “It shows how receptive people are to our services.
It shows how much people are craving for the railway transport services because it is cheap and safe; it takes people to their various destinations without incidents. That is why the demand is very high; that is why you see people riding on the roof of our coaches each time. Talking about the negative side, he told the reporter that “we have over the years been aware of this development.
| Posted: at | |
TRENDING GISTS 
Singer, Portable Weighs In On Mercy Johnson’s Drastic Weight Loss
I Faded Out Because I Became Less Ambitious’ Says Singer, Orezi
Ogun Female Broadcaster, Mrs. Bukola Agbakaizu Slumps And Dies at Work
Funke Akindele Makes List Of Hollywood’s ‘Most Influential Women In International Film’
VIDEO: Man Caught While Waiting For a Minor he Had Solicited S£x From Online
Rapper, Phyno Unveils His Daughter, Shares Adorable Video to Mark Her Second Birthday
Ex Madrid Player, Xabi Alonso Seals Managerial Move To Real Madrid As Ancelotti Bows Out