NRC MD Allays Fears Of COVID-19 Among Workers

By Kenneth Jukpor

Amid the increasing cases of COVID-19 pandemic among railway construction workers, the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria has assured that NRC workers have been adhering to safety precautions to forestall an outbreak.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government says it will shut down the Lagos-Ibadan and the Abuja-Kaduna train services should there be any case of COVID-19 among passengers.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, stated this yesterday while featuring on NTA Good Morning Nigeria programme.

He said train users must comply with all COVID-19 protocols from the beginning of every trip to the end.

The Minister said: “If we see that we are conveying passengers who have Covid-19 from Lagos to Ibadan and Ibadan to Lagos, we will stop it just like we threatened to stop the one from Kaduna to Abuja if people don’t comply with COVID -19 protocols.

“Don’t forget that on Kaduna-Abuja, we convey 4,000 passengers in a day. Imagine that about 20 per cent have Covid-19, they can transmit COVID-19 to the entire passengers. The rate of transmission will be high. The same is applicable to Lagos. Everybody must comply with the COVID-19 protocols, wear your masks till the end of the journey.”

The Minister also added that the $1.6 billion Lagos-Ibadan railway project, which would be completed this month would be inaugurated virtually by President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, the NRC Managing Director during an exclusive chat with MMS Plus newspaper today, has assured that the members of staff at the corporation where complying with safety precautions to the letter.

The NRC boss encouraged railway users to also endevour to comply with the health safety precautions in a bid to forestall an outbreak of the pandemic via the railways.

Recall that in December 2020 NRC commenced operations for the Lagos-Ibadan railway, a standard gauge rail covering a distance of 156km.