Abuja-Kaduna Train accident, non-sabotage

The federal government rejected the requests of sabotage in the recent derailment of the Abuja-Kaduna train.

The Minister of Transport, Saidu Alkali, made the statement in a chat with the journalists of the State Chamber.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the Federal Government for the safety and safety of railway operations throughout Nigeria.

Speaking with the State House Press Corps in company with the CEO of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Kayode Opeifa, Sunday 31 August 2025, Alkali said that the preliminary investigations suggested that the accident was due to an operational error, not to a deliberate law.

Alkali said: “We solved the car from here to Kaduna, and since then there has been no derailment problem.

“The investigations are still in progress and we do not want to prevent the committee until it presents its relationship.

“A point machine, also known as the switch engine, is a device that shifts the polls of the polls, allowing trains to change tracks safely and efficiently.”

The minister recognized that vandalism continued to represent a serious challenge for rail security, despite the arrests in progress and judicial proceedings against those harmful railway infrastructures.

He confirmed that four out of ten coaches had been recovered using specialized cranes and equipment.

He also revealed that the contracts were underway to extend the railway line from Warri to Ajaokuta and finally to Abuja.

In his observations, Opeifa apologized to the union of the journalists of Nigeria (Nuj) for a reported altercation that involved the immediate national president of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (Nawoj), Ladi Bala, during the media coverage of the derailment.

The NRC boss said: “If a journalist or a medium felt excluded or not well cared for on the accident scene, I take full responsibility for me and I apologize sincerely.

“We commit ourselves to transparency and we will continue to provide the press with access and information as the events take place.”

By strengthening the position of the minister, Opeifa also excluded sabotage, citing technical tests from the derailment site.

He added: “National, the railway tracks are constantly targeted by vandals and scrap unions.

“But with specific reference to this accident, the track did not show signs of sabotage or structural failure.

“Our initial results indicate that it was an operational accident in a junction point.”

The NRC boss confirmed that all 618 passengers aboard the train were evacuated without loss of human lives or serious injuries.

Opeifa has assured that efforts were underway to restore complete trains services, underlining that the safety of passengers and the reliability of the service remained the best priorities.

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