Adebayo Adenrele
Some officials of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) have been allegedly accused of extorting passengers, despite the federal government’s efforts of making train trips free of charge to mitigate the cost of transportation during yuletide season.
Some passengers travelling from Ibadan to Lagos and vice versa during the festive period, shared their experiences which happened on ‘Buhari Train’ at Papa Lantoro ìn Abeokuta, where empty coaches, which were said to be officially booked, never got booked.
In the course of research, the passengers said they were made to pay for tickets which was supposed to be free, and eventually turned the palliative investment to waste.
A passenger said, “I was traveling back from Ibadan to Lagos with my kids on the 1st of January 2024. I would resume back to work the following day so I tried booking the free train seats. It was fully booked! Then someone told me there were three seats left for Ibadan to Abeokuta so I booked the seats with the intention of alighting at Abeokuta and continue my journey by commercial buses.
“However I noticed that most of the seats were empty so I decided not to alight at Abeokuta but continue the journey. After Papa Lantoro, I noticed that the seats were still empty. In fact, the whole lots of us who were passengers in the train could not fill up only two coaches.the rest seats of six coaches were empty. Having realized what happened, I decided to take these pictures!”
Another one said, “I was filled with happiness and gratitude to the Federal Government of Nigeria when it was announced that train trips would be free of charge during this festive period. I was already racking my brain about how I would take my family of six to my town in Oyo for Christmas and new year. My earlier arrangement was banked on the Federal Government’s promised wage awards of N35K but even normal salary was not paid let alone the wage awards. We were paid only once for the month of September and I don’t know when others would be paid or if it would be paid at all. You can imagine how happy I was to get my family to Ibadan without paying for it!
“I tried to book tickets online but it was fully booked. We postponed the journey and the following day, it was fully booked again. Then we woke up very early in the morning the following day and got to train station before dawn. We hoped to book tickets at the station but they told me it was fully booked again. As I stood perplexed, the official told me he could help me get the tickets if I was willing to pay a token. I asked how would it be possible when the seats were totally booked? He replied that he knew someone who had already booked but is no more traveling. Then I understood!
“Some unscrupulous staff of the NRC who were privy to the time the booking portal would be available would have booked all available spaces with the intention of selling the tickets to desperate travelers like myself. In that way, they would make some money and the acclaimed free trip wouldn’t be free but fares reduced. I left disappointed.”
