Equipment theft disrupts ongoing work on Lagos-Ibadan rail
The contractors handling the construction of standard guage rail line that connects Lagos with Ibadan have expressed worries over the rate of theft and armed robbery attacks that takes place on the site.
The project which is overseen by China Civil Engineering and Construction Company is said to be delayed against the completion deadline due to rising cases of losing equipment and construction materials to theft and robbery attacks that have forced the workers to limit construction to daytime only.
Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of transport, was informed of this development as he was supervising the project to ascertain the volume of work being done so far.
Although the Chinese firm did not reveal the nature of these attacks or the number of instances it has occurred, Amaechi advised the company to beef up security in the area.
“The challenges are numerous,” he disclosed. “They talked about being attacked by communities, armed robbers, equipment being stolen. We didn’t experience that between Abeokuta and Oyo. So, I have told them to also get security men so that they can get protected.”
The rail line completion that was expected to be in December 2018 has been shifted to February 2019. It is not clear if the line will go all the way to Ibadan as at the stipulated time, but the transport Minister said that it is expected to reach at least Abeokuta by then.
