But for providence, the Agege area of Lagos would have been the scene of a tragic accident when a section of a train returning to its base at Ebute-Metta from Ijoko missed its tracks there early Wednesday morning.
The incident which occurred at about 12.30am was said to have been caused by defective tracks.
An employee of the National Railway Corporation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the driver of the locomotive also shared the blame in the accident.
He said, “The rails were not aligned properly; there was a gap between them which ought not to be. It so happened that the driver who was driving the locomotive, was moving at a high speed. When he ran into the improperly laid rails, the locomotive was thrown off the rails.
“Although the driver was hurt, the injuries are not life threatening. The accident could have been avoided though if he wasn’t speeding. Both the driver and those responsible for laying the tracks, will be sanctioned.”
It was gathered that as at 4pm on Wednesday, employees of the NRC were still at the scene battling to get the locomotive back on the rails with the aid of a crane while a few metres away, other employees worked at fixing the rails which had been damaged by the accident.
Confirming the incident, Spokesperson for the NRC in Lagos, Mr. Adekanbi said that the cause of the accident was unknown.
In his words, “I am not at the scene right now, so I cannot tell you if the cause of the accident were the rails. We have our own methods of handling such situations.
“At the moment, all we are doing is trying to get the locomotive back on the rails so that it can be moved away. The cause of the accident is unknown, and the driver is unhurt.
“It is when we are able to get the locomotive back on the rails that we can say what caused the accident. However, it is a minor accident.”