Femi Falana, SAN, has on Monday, called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and the Managing Director, MD, of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, Fidet Okhiria, accusing them of gross and intentional negligence, over the recent attack of the Abuja-Kaduna bound rail track and train, that led to the death of many Nigerians, the kidnap of many others, and injury to some others,
Falana referenced reports of attacks on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line and train, and accused the NRC and Amaechi of not taking enough measures to forestall the latest incident.
He said specifically: “Although, both Messrs Amaechi and Okhiria knew that the Abuja-Kaduna train was not safe, they kept on giving passengers a false sense of security.
“Since both of them knew that the tragedy that befell the nation last week, was waiting to happen, and did not adopt measures to prevent it, the President should direct the Inspector-General of Police to investigate and prosecute them for criminal negligence.
“Meanwhile, both of them should not be allowed to continue to risk the lives of train passengers in the country.”
Speaking further, he stated that contrary to claims by the NRC that there is no fraud in the sales of train tickets, a ticket racketeering syndicate was arrested in 2019. Since then, he said that the NRC has not been able to crack down on other syndicates operating in the Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan Train Stations.
According to Falana, the Corporation and the Ministry is legally bound to bear the cost of treatment for those injured during the very tragic incident.
He noted: “It is indisputable that the loss of lives, personal injury, and abduction of passengers by the terrorists was caused ‘by want of reasonable care, diligence, or skill on the part of the Corporation or its servants’.
“In other words, top Officials of the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Ministry of Transportation are liable for the criminal negligence that caused the bomb attack.”