News
Manslaughter Charge Should Be Giving To Railway Vandals – Amaechi
Anyone caught vandalising railway facilities in the country should be charged with manslaughter. This a proposal by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Amaechi says imposing strict penalties will curb railway vandalism in the country.
He said this on Friday during the ministerial media briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister lamented the frequent theft of railway clips which cost the country huge sums in dollars to replace.
He maintained that imposing strict penalties would curb railway vandalism, an act he described as “deadly” and capable of causing derailment and killing passengers.
In late June, the police arraigned some suspected railway vandals at the Federal High Court sitting in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
The vandals were charged with conspiracy, economic sabotage, and terrorism while the lawyer of Chinese national was charged with aiding, facilitating, and abetment of terrorism for offering a bribe to the police to aid the escape of his client.
Speaking on the impact of railway vandalism, Amaechi said, “That’s why I say to Nigerians that if I were to be a lawmaker, I’d be recommending manslaughter charges against those who engage in the vandalisation of rail tracks.
“The reason is that it takes about 800 metres for a locomotive to stop. As it’s running now, it is running with speed.
“The moment it wants to stop, the driver will apply the brakes here and it will take 800 metres to stop.
“So, how will the driver know that you have removed or vandalised a track 800 meters away? He will not know until it gets to the track.
“So, when it gets to the track, what happens? He applies the brakes, but he needs 800 metres to stop. So, once it gets to that track that has been vandalised, he will derail. Once it derails, some people may die.
“Each coach takes 85 persons. And we are talking about 14 to 20 coaches. You can imagine the number of people that will die as a result of that derailment.
“This is just because one selfish Nigerian is trying to steal tracks to make money. I think, like other countries, I’m not saying they should be killed because there’s poverty. But I’m saying they should be charged with mass manslaughter because people will die.
“But again, they will tell you that manslaughter means that somebody died. If anybody dies, they should be charged with manslaughter. If nobody dies, they should be charged with stealing. That’s my view.”
“The reason is that it takes about 800 metres for a locomotive to stop. As it’s running now, it is running with speed.
“The moment it wants to stop, the driver will apply the brakes here and it will take 800 metres to stop.
“So, how will the driver know that you have removed or vandalised a track 800 meters away? He will not know until it gets to the track.
“So, when it gets to the track, what happens? He applies the brakes, but he needs 800 metres to stop. So, once it gets to that track that has been vandalised, he will derail. Once it derails, some people may die.
“Each coach takes 85 persons. And we are talking about 14 to 20 coaches. You can imagine the number of people that will die as a result of that derailment.
“This is just because one selfish Nigerian is trying to steal tracks to make money. I think, like other countries, I’m not saying they should be killed because there’s poverty. But I’m saying they should be charged with mass manslaughter because people will die.
“But again, they will tell you that manslaughter means that somebody died. If anybody dies, they should be charged with manslaughter. If nobody dies, they should be charged with stealing. That’s my view.”
