Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, revealed that he had warned about the possible loss of lives before the Abuja-Kaduna train incident that happened on Monday.
He said he would have been prevented if only what he requested was approved, adding that he requested for necessary digital security and crime prevention equipment but it was not approved.
The minister made this revelation while speaking with journalists on Tuesday when he visited the scene of the incident.
The minister who expressed disappointment over the incident said the occurrence could have been prevented with the relevant digital equipment in place.
According to Amaechi, he said “We knew what the problem would be. We knew we needed to have digital security equipment. We applied for it.
He said, “Because if we had that equipment, you will see nobody on that track. And I warned that lives will be lost. Now, lives are lost. Eight persons were dead, 25 persons were in the hospital.
“We don’t know how many persons have been kidnapped. And the cost of that equipment is just N3 billion. The cost of what we’ve lost is more than N3 billion.
“We’ve lost tracks, we’ve lost locomotives and coaches. We’ve lost human beings. And the equipment is just N3 billion.
“To fix all the things on that track now, will cost us more than N3 billion. And now even the things we said give us the approval to buy – at the time we asked for it, the dollar was N400, now it is N500. When you come with sincerity to government and your colleagues and people are stopping you, it is annoying.”
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