{"id":67530,"date":"2025-06-07T21:22:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T21:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=67530"},"modified":"2025-06-07T21:22:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T21:22:16","slug":"railway-assets-are-not-scraps-nrc-boss-warns-against-vandalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/06\/07\/railway-assets-are-not-scraps-nrc-boss-warns-against-vandalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Railway Assets Are Not Scraps, NRC Boss Warns Against Vandalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Onyeanya Ebere<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Dr Kayode Opeifa, has warned against the persistent vandalism of railway infrastructure across the country, insisting that the materials being stolen are not scrap but essential national assets crucial to Nigeria\u2019s unity and development.<\/p>\n

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television\u2019s Hard Copy programme on Saturday, Opeifa highlighted the value of railway systems beyond transportation, stressing their role in fostering national integration and economic progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have scraps in the Nigerian railway; we have national assets,\u201d he stated, lamenting the theft of critical components such as rail tracks and steel, which are often misclassified and sold as scrap.<\/p>\n

The NRC boss recalled a similar trend abroad but pointed out the uniqueness of Nigeria\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at a conference in South Africa, I think in the month of April, and I was shocked that people are even stealing electric cables that power their trains,\u201d he said. \u201cBut what do they steal here? They steal the steel and call it scrap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opeifa explained that these railway lines connect Nigeria\u2019s diverse cultures, religions and languages, reinforcing national identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the assets that link our people… from Lagos to Osogbo, Ilorin, Mokua, Niger, Nupe, Hausa, Igbo, Fufide, Calabari, Edo, Hebrew, Tiv to Maiduguri speaking Kanuri,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to him, any act of vandalism is an attack on the very structure that unites Nigerians.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody vandalising them is like going to the heart of our people, the integration that binds us together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Opeifa also appealed to communities along railway corridors to take ownership and protect the rail infrastructure, stressing that the presence of railways often stimulates the growth of surrounding areas into major cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery part the railway passes through becomes a major city, so it is in the interest of the locals too to make sure the railway survives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While he did not provide details on specific security strategies in place to curb vandalism, he hinted at ongoing measures and urged for continued support from the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just pray that we continue to do them and want to appeal to the communities who are supporting us to continue to support us. The area we need them more is in the area of vandalism,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Onyeanya Ebere The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Dr Kayode Opeifa, has warned against the persistent vandalism of railway infrastructure across the country, insisting that the materials being stolen are not scrap but essential national assets crucial to Nigeria\u2019s unity and development. Speaking during an interview on Channels Television\u2019s Hard Copy programme […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":67531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-67530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67532,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67530\/revisions\/67532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}