Thursday, August 28, 2025 - Minister of Transportation, Sen. Said Ahmed Alkali has constituted a 12-member committee to investigate the root causes of the train derailment on August 26, 2025.
The minister assigned the committee members the task of
investigating the immediate and remote causes of the accident and to make
recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents in the future.
They are also to identify ways to enhance rail
transportation’s safety and effectiveness in Nigeria.
The minister, who commiserated with those injured, thanked
God for sparing the lives of everyone on the train.
Members of the committee, according to a statement signed by
the ministry’s director of press, Janet McDickson Noah, include: the director
overseeing the office of the permanent secretary, Musa Ibrahim, as chairman;
technical adviser to the minister, Prof. Danwaka Shuaibu; director of road
transport services, Engr. Zirra Finbar; director of legal, Barr.
Omotola Olusegun, who will serve as committee secretary; MD, Nigeria Railway
Corporation, Dr. Kayode Opeifa; inspector of Railway, Engr. I.A Ebuniwe, representative
of Technics Engineering Architecture Marketing Nig. Ltd; representative
of CCECC; representative of Civil Society Organisation; one male
and one female representative of passengers.
Meanwhile, the managing director of the Nigerian Railway
Corporation, Kayode Opeifa, has said he takes full responsibility for Tuesday’s
derailment of the Abuja-Kaduna train, which occurred along the Kaduna corridor
shortly after departure from Abuja.
He stated this during a Wednesday episode on Channels
Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’.
Opeifa assured Nigerians that the ongoing investigation into
the incident would be thorough and transparent.
He said, “Beyond apologising to Nigerians, I want to state
clearly that I take full responsibility as the managing director and chief
executive.
“When it comes to safety, there is no room for indifference.
Once something like this happens, the chief executive must own it, and I do.”
He further revealed that the injuries to four Abuja-Kaduna
train passengers were serious.
“Coming to the fatality and the casualties, there was no
fatality. We thank God. That was a near miss because for this kind of accident
or incident, you see some level of fatality, but we thank God for this.
Four of the injured were seriously injured, and another two
or so were discharged immediately. We will follow up on those who might still
be in the hospital.
“So we’ll also follow up with the remaining 618 people on
the train because of the post-traumatic experience. We have the full contacts
and we’ll do that,” the NRC boss stated.
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