On Thursday, pandemonium occured inside the Apapa port of Lagos as a train bringing containers into the port had derailed and rammed into moving truck carrying 2×20 foot containers fully loaded with cargoes.
Consequently, for several hours, there was no access into the ENL Terminal, APM Terminals and the ABTL Terminals through the usual railway crossing until efforts to salvage the situation was carried out by Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and ABTL Terminal.
According to an eyewitness, the train was bringing containers into the port and it must have derailed slightly and it hit a moving truck that already had clearance to move because the train already passed through, but it came back to hit the truck.
With recent disasters with the inferno that stuck the FPSO Trinity Spirit and the yet to be resolved debilitating effects of contaminated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imported and distributed in the country, another major disaster would have occured on Thursday if an explosion erupted from the railway accident and claimed more lives and properties.
The container was fully loaded. So the owners of the container have lost a lot, but what it is was a PMS tanker that got rammed into or the train in question was carrying petroleum products.
Although reports indicated that NPA officials, Anti-Bomb Square, Customs officers, and Nigerian Railway Corporation officials were all on ground to handle the situation, perhaps it’s time to be more proactive via regulations and operations to prevent such a disaster from occuring.
The event stretched into the usual closing hours, so, a lot of port users could not leave the port. They had to be directed through Flour Mills exit gate.
Amid the gross regulatory inefficiencies affecting various stratas of the nation’s sectors, it’s high time efforts are intensified to change the narratives and prevent casualties.
Nigeria is a nation blessed with the absence of major natural disasters as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and other uncontrollable catastrophes hardly ever occur in the nation, however, it’s time to stop the loss of lives and properties due to negligence, corruption and non-adherence to global best standards and practices.
The Apapa Port derailed train may just have been a disaster averted, but plans should commence now, not later, to ensure it doesn’t reoccur and result to another major setback in the country.
