Nigeria’s Energy Crisis: Passengers Fear as Lagos-Ibadan Train Runs Out of Diesel

Tension gripped scores of passengers on a Lagos-Ibadan train service on Thursday as a train, which departed Ibadan for Lagos stopped along the way after the engine ran out of diesel.

The incident was disclosed by one of the passangers on board, King Isaiah Obadore, on his twitter handle, when he wrote: “The crew members said the train stopped moving, because it had exhausted its diesel.
“Boarded Train from Ibadan to Lagos. We’re still stuck in the forest with unknown Chinese Men. They said fuel finished. What a beautiful country, Nigeria,” Obadore said.

THISDAY learnt that it took the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) about two hours to restart the locomotive engine after the diesel supply was brought in from somewhere in Ogun State.

Another passenger, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, explained that many passengers were gripped by fear, when the train suddenly stopped working.
The passenger said, “We had left Ibadan for Lagos in the morning and were hoping to get to Lagos before 10:00 am, only for the train to stop in the middle of nowhere.

“When the train refused to restart after ten minutes, most of us (passengers) became apprehensive. We had heard news of unknown persons attacking the Lagos-Ibadan trains in recent times by removing some of the track components. So, many of us initially thought we were under attack.

“After about 45 minutes, the NRC officials onboard the trains told some of us that it wasn’t a case of attack, but that the train stopped due to shortage of diesel. We waited for close to an hour before diesel was brought in from one of the NRC stations nearby.

“It wasn’t a funny experience as many of us (passengers) were apprehensive due to stories of attacks on the Lagos-Ibadan and Kaduna-Abuja standard gauge trains. After we got diesel, the train continued its journey to Lagos from Ibadan.”

A staff of the NRC revealed that due to scarcity of fuel in recent days, the trains have not been getting adequate fuel supply.

According to him, “We have not been getting adequate fuel supply in recent days due to the scarcity of fuel in the country. Sometimes, we leave for Lagos or Ibadan with insufficient fuel supply with the hope of getting a refill along the way.

“What happened this morning (Thursday morning) was not envisaged, because the driver failed in estimating the amount of available diesel in the locomotive tank before departure from Ibadan.

“It was just unfortunate that the train stopped in the middle of the journey, due to diesel shortage. Since the fuel shortage issue started in Nigeria, we have been running our Lagos-Ibadan trips with insufficient fuel and have had to make do with refill along our trips most times.”

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