The management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has suspended nine workers found culpable in ticket racketeering allegations.
This follows an allegation that some staff members of the NRC engaged in fraudulent dealings – collecting cash from passengers without remitting to the government.
A video emerged in the past week showing the yet-to-be-identified staff collecting money from passengers on the Lagos-Ibadan Train Service.
The staff had allowed the passengers to board the train without obtaining tickets, only to ask them for money mid-trip.
Speaking to journalists at the Obafemi Awolowo Station in Ibadan, the Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, confirmed that the officials involved in the fraudulent practice had been suspended.
“It’s an offence to carry an intending passenger to enter the train without having a ticket,” Okhiria said.
“We have made that arrangement and we have staff members to check the tickets before they get to the departure hall and also check the tickets before they can get to the platforms to board the train.”
The NRC boss stated that adequate steps had been taken to prevent such people without tickets from being allowed to pass into the departure hall and onto the platform to board the train.
“I just came here to remind them that anybody caught will not be spared and to ensure that we do the right thing at the right time,” he added.
