The Federal Government says it will shut down the Lagos-Ibadan and the Abuja-Kaduna train services should there be any case of Covid-19 detected among passengers. The was revealed by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, while featuring on NTA Good Morning Nigeria programme monitored on Monday by our correspondent.
He said train users must comply with all Covid-19 protocols from the beginning of every trip to the end. In the words of the Minister, “If we see that we are conveying passengers who have Covid from Lagos to Ibadan and Ibadan to Lagos, we will stop it just like we are threatened to stop the one from Kaduna to Abuja if people don’t comply with the Covid protocols.”
The Minister further says, “Don’t forget that on Kaduna-Abuja, we convey 4,000 passengers in a day. Imagine that about 20 per cent have Covid, they can transmit Covid to the entire passengers. The rate of transmission will be high. The same is applicable to Lagos. Everybody must comply with the Covid protocols; wear your masks till the end of the journey.”
The minister also added that the $1.6bn Lagos-Ibadan railway project which would be completed this month would be inaugurated virtually by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation had in December 2020 commenced operations for the Lagos-Ibadan railway, a standard gauge rail covering a distance of 156km.
