Lagos – The Nigeria Police Force, Railway Command in Lagos State, on Thursday said it had arrested 58 suspected hoodlums for riding on the rooftop of moving trains.
Mrs Sarah Imagwe, the Acting Area Commander of the command at Ebute Meta, disclosed this at a news briefing organised by the Lagos District of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
Imagwe said that the hoodlums were arrested at the Agege Rail Station on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
“Due to series of complaints from the railway management that hoodlums always climb on top of moving trains between Mushin and Iju, we have been making arrests and charging them to court.
“When another complaint came again, the Commissioner of Police directed that men of the Nigeria Police, in conjunction with railway officials swing into action yesterday.
“On getting to the Agege Rail Station, our men sighted the train with about 200 hoodlums on top of the roof, and they made effort and arrested about 58 hoodlums,’’ she said.
According to her, many of the alleged hoodlums fled on sighting the police.
She said that the hoodlums were detained for investigation before charging them to court.
The commander, who said that the hoodlums endangered their lives and that of the commuters, noted that the police would continue their raids, to curb the menace.
On the claim of innocence made by some of the arrested hoodlums, she said criminals would always maintain a non-guilty stance.
Mr Akin Osinowo, the Lagos Railway District Manager of the corporation, said that the menace of the rooftop train riders was caused by increased passengers’ patronage, far above the available rail transport facilities.
“The rooftop riders are not new, it’s been with us almost since the inception of the railways and is particularly more pronounced in the metropolitan areas.
“It is because the demand exceeds supply; the Nigeria Railway is just being revived and a lot of people are keying into it because it is cheaper and it is faster.
“Yet, we will not tolerate riding on top of the trains because safety is our watchword.
“Ninety per cent of the rail stations are porous, they are not covered and this gives an easy access for hoodlums to sit on our trains, almost on a daily basis.’’
Osinowo said that the corporation had done much to tackle the menace, which included regular raids, announcements, advertisements, among others, to sensitise commuters on the risks involved.
He assured that the corporation would continue to use all legitimate means to find a permanent solution to the problem.
Osinowo, who said the corporation had limited resources, stated that its available resources were usually distributed nationwide.
According to him, the corporation has added many coaches to the system and four new locomotives in Lagos.
He said: “I believe more are still coming; there is a bright future for the metro lines of the railway in the state in the future.
“These are real investments into the system, it is gradual and will continue.’’
In his address, Mr Pius Imue, the Commissioner of Police, Railway Command, said that central among the problems highlighted for him on assumption of duty was the menace of the hoodlums.
Imue said he had discussed and strategised with the DPOs under the District,m, as well as the NRC management on the best ways to effectively tackle the problem.
“The hoodlums dispossess many of the train passengers of their belongings; we are going after them to save their own lives and the lives of the genuine passengers.
“The rooftop riders constitute a menace to the Lagos environment and we will sustain these operations, we will continue to plan and strike.
“We will continue to plan and strike for the dissidents to learn their lessons and this will be a deterrent to others who might want to indulge in such act,’’ he said.
Imue added that it was a suicidal mission to sit on the rooftop of moving trains, noting that most of the young men who indulged in the act were drug addicts.
According to him, the police will monitor and continue their surveillance to checkmate the activities of the undesirable elements.
Meanwhile, Mr Taofiq Abegunde, an engineer at Computer Village in Ikeja, one of the alleged suspects, said that he was not a hoodlum.
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“I didn’t sit on the rooftop, I bought a ticket which I showed them, only that I stayed in-between the coaches because the train was filled up before getting to Ikeja, where I boarded.
“I could not wait for the next train because where I live is far off, inside Sango-Ota, and it was around 8 p.m.,’’ Abegunde said.
Another suspect, Mr Friday Israel, a Civil Servant who works in Victoria Island, also denied being a hoodlum.
“I’m not a hoodlum, I bought a ticket, only that I hanged at the door because everywhere was blocked,’’ he added. (NAN)