The detention of several of its members by the Borno State Police Command has been criticised by the Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NURW).
According to OBASANJONEWS24, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) employees were detained by the Borno police on Saturday.
The arrested individuals were also suspected of attempting to steal train coaches by the police, who claimed they were unable to identify themselves.
The Union revealed this in a press conference on Sunday in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, through its National President, Mr. Innocent Ajiji.
Ajiji, who criticised the action, insisted that the people who were detained were legitimate company employees.
He explained that the coaches were being transported to Jos in preparation for NRC’s start of rail operations in the Plateau.
“The Plateau State Government intends to operate a rail mass transportation that will cover Jos, Kuru, and Heipang districts, thus I am in Jos to observe the ongoing activities.
But because Jos lacks a coach, coaches from Maiduguri are brought here to be renovated and used to run the city’s public transit system.
Since railway management plans to operate interstate mass transit, the remaining coaches will be moved to a different location.
“The first coach has arrived in Jos by road and this is because our tracks have been stolen, and we can’t convey the coaches by rail,” he explained.
The president claimed that on the order of Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, its members had been detained as they were transporting the coaches.
He added that the NRC management had formally written to the commissioner of police in Borno State to inform him of the need to transport its things from Maiduguri to Jos, and that the people detained were acting as instructed by that management.
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“Our men travelled to Maiduguri to transport three further coaches to Jos, but the police detained them and are currently holding them.
“All attempts to free them were unsuccessful. These coaches were not stolen, despite what the police claimed.
“Our Regional District Manager in the North-East, Engr Aliyu Mainasara, is the person they are claiming to be the primary suspect.
“He is not a thief, so we call on the commissioner to immediately release our members,” he added. “If this is not done, we will be forced to down tools and stop all trains throughout Nigeria from moving.”
Ajiji added that the coaches had not been used for the previous 20 years and insisted that they were being sent to Jos so that they could be used properly.
“Since Boko Haram began, the rebels have destroyed all of our bridges and taken away all of our rails.
In fact, because they were taken away by these bandits, there is no single route on the ground from Maiduguri to Bajoga.
Therefore, he stated, “We are taking these coaches to Jos and other regions to employ them effectively.
The NRC administration has the authority to shift its facilities for use from one location to another, the president further highlighted.
