COVID-19:Train passengers remain safety protocol compliant, District Manager says

By Correspondent in Lagos

With the second wave COVID-19 blowing across the world, the District Manager, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Jerry Oche, said train passengers in Nigeria had complied with COVID-19 protocols.

Oche disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos in an interview with journalists in Lagos on Thursday.

According to him, the NRC management ensured that all passengers and employees of the corporation adhere strictly to COVID-19 safety protocols as “the nation battles the second wave of the deadly pandemic.”

He said the passengers were conscious of the policy of the corporation based on “No nose mask, no boarding’’.

According to the district manager, the corporation is not aiming at achieving turnover but the safety of passengers before and after boarding.

“We have seen people that don’t believe in COVID-19, our own is to ensure that our rule is our rule and we enforce it and passengers are complying,“ Oche said.

He said that soaps and hand sanitiers were usually made available in the train for passengers’ use.

Meanwhile, the district manager said the NRC started operating the standard gauge on Dec. 7, 2020 from Ibadan to Lagos.

“It has been a gradual increase, our best performance so far was on Dec. 24, 2020 with more than 400 passengers from Lagos to Ibadan.

“We have noticed from our operations that a lot of people travel to Ibadan on Fridays and return to Lagos on Mondays, Oche said.

A passenger, Mr Lanre Adisa, told journalists that traveling by train was pleasurable, compared to the hassles of travelling by car or bus and the attendant gridlock.

Another train user, Alhaja Basirah Adimula, a trader, said she enjoyed the ride,

She, however, advised NRC management to allow the sale of nose masks within the station, rather than asking passengers to get them outside the station.

Meanwhile, statement from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),on Thursday indicates that Nigeria recorded 1,964 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

The centre added that as at January 21,2021,there were 116,655 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in the country, 93,646 discharged and 1,485 dead.

It gives the statistics of the deadly disease from states affected.

Lagos-824
FCT-246
Plateau-166
Kaduna-128
Ogun-76
Nasarawa-74
Anambra-69
Edo-50
Rivers-45
Ondo-44
Niger-40
Oyo-38
Adamawa-35
Kano-31
Akwa Ibom-27
Gombe-19
Kwara-13
Ekiti-12
Delta-6
Kebbi-6
Bauchi-5
Ebonyi-4
Osun-3
Zamfara-1