Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday said that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) should be held culpable for the train accident that happened in the Ikeja area of Lagos State last week Thursday and that the corporation must pay compensation to the victims of the tragic incident.
Falana, who is also chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), stated that the BRT operators and NRC are insured and, therefore, should compensate the accident victims.
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The senior lawyer, who made the calls in a press statement he issued yesterday in Lagos, also called on the Lagos State government to challenge both BRT operators and NRC in court if they failed to compensate the victims.
He maintained that if compensation is not paid as soon as possible, the state government should direct the Ministry of Justice to approach the Lagos State High Court for legal redress on behalf of the survivors and legal representatives of those who were killed in the accident as both the ill-fated train and the BRT bus are insured.
Falana further insisted that the advice given to the public by the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidel Okhiria, that they should be more careful when passing through the level crossing is not the solution to the ongoing killing of motorists and passengers by trains.
Falana stressed that such advice would not prevent similar accidents in future.
He said, “The federal government should compel the management of the NRC to erect metal barriers in all railway level crossings to regulate traffic movement and avert the incessant deaths recorded at railway level crossings in the country.
“In a very insensitive reaction to the unfortunate incident, Mr Jerry Oche, the Lagos District Manager of Nigeria Railway Corporation, said, ‘We have warned passersby, motorists and other road users to stay away from railway tracks.’ The railway track is a dangerous place to toy with; everything involved is iron, both the rail tracks and the train itself.
“A similar accident occurred on 1st May 2019, when a tricycle rider and three passengers lost their lives in a crash on Shina Peters Road, Iju-Ishaga, in the Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State.
“It was reported that the rider was about to cross the railway line when a speeding train crushed the tricycle. As usual, the management of the NRC blamed the accident on the recklessness of the rider of the tricycle.