Lagos bus-train accident report ready soon – FG

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has agreed to deepen its relationships with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Railway Corporation through a Memorandum of Understanding on ways of enhancing safety in the rail and road sector.

The agency also said the report of the Lagos bus-train crash would be ready very soon.

The development came barely three weeks after a train crashed with a Lagos State Government staff bus in the Ikeja area of Lagos State.

Speaking during courtesy visits to the two organisations in Lagos, the Director-General, NSIB, Akin Olateru, said its investigators had begun an investigation into the causal and contributory factors of the March 9, 2023 train-bus accident in Lagos.

He explained that the NSIB’s report, which would be made public, would also include safety recommendations to both parties on how a recurrence could be avoided in the future.

Speaking at LASEMA, Olateru said, “We have 45 well-trained investigators who are well-trained in the United States, Singapore Academy, and others. So, we do what we do well. It takes time to carry out the investigation.

“But, for this, I don’t think it will take time because some of our investigators have already been trained on train and maritime investigation.

“All the accidents and serious incidents that we have investigated in the past, we made them public. There is no hiding anything, but the thing is we don’t blame anyone. We have the causal and contributory factors that would tell you why the accident happened.”

He sought a partnership between NSIB and LASEMA on capacity building, training, and exchange of ideas.

Earlier in his presentation, the Permanent Secretary of LASEPA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, showed some slides on the train-bus accident and how his agency was able to minimise the casualties.

According to him, officials of LASEPA were at the scene of the accident within 10 minutes and rescue operations commenced immediately.

He sought partnership with NSIB in the areas of training and acquisition of equipment to further increase safety in the sector.

He said, “We wish to partner with your organisation. Let’s partner effectively and efficiently. You can use your money to build us up. You won’t regret it. I pioneered LASEMA in 2005 due to the bomb blast of January 27, 2002, which occurred in Lagos.

At the NRC, Olateru also reiterated that the report on the accident would be issued to the public soon and explained that the new NSIB Act 2022 followed due process before it was enacted and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He explained that the essence of the new Act was to minimize all forms of road accidents in the country and save more lives.

In his response, the Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria, expressed delight to work with NSIB.

He explained that the coming onboard of the bureau would improve the safety of lives and equipment, while recurrence would also be prevented.

He, however, said that the coming of NSIB to investigate train accidents was not a threat to the organisation, rather, it would serve as a boost to the rail system in the country.