In order to prevent further accidents, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) claims it has started building overhead and underground passes at the 11 level crossings throughout Lagos State.
This information was provided in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos by the corporation's managing director, Mr. Fidet Okhiria.
In Oyingbo and Ebute-Metta, he claims, we have begun to separate the train from the road.
At the Agege level crossing, he claimed that the company had built both an overhead and an underground pass.
“We are going to have 11 flyovers within Lagos and we cannot do all at the same time. We are constructing them in batches.
“Before now, we constructed barriers and they were vandalised; we even constructed automatic barriers which were also vandalised.
“Although we have been repairing them, especially the automatic barriers, they do not last for a week after such repairs.
“It is either they hit the barriers with vehicles or people vandalise them overnight. He claimed that NRC management had intended for gate men to halt cars at level crossings in order to prevent accidents'',he said.
Whenever trains neared the level crossings, he said, NRC would send out personnel and technological equipment to warn nearby motorists.
Okhiria observed that while simple traffic laws were generally followed around the globe, motorists frequently disregarded traffic signs in Nigeria.
He cautioned drivers to exercise greater caution when driving through level crossings and emphasized that there was only one life.
