Amaechi Fires 11 Rail Staff Over Misconduct

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, has ordered the sack of managers, porters, and ticket officials at Idu and Rigasa, the Abuja-Kaduna rail stations over ticket racketeering and nonchalant attitude to work.

The minister gave the directive when he visited the rail stations on Friday.

Amaechi said the move became imperative following series of complaints from passengers.

He also complained about poor maintenance of the facilities, and stopped the use of porter’s boys for carrying luggage.

“I am removing the station managers in Idu and Rigasa, the porters and ticket officials will be removed. Let’s see if it will resolve the complaints of passengers using the rail,” Amaechi said.

“Some of them have complained on the social media. I believe that if any system fails, it’s because the leaders allow it to fail and I will not allow that.

“The money we are spending monthly, is it just for diesel alone?

“Is it for general maintenance of all the stations and the environment, we will fix the lift within one week to ensure that passengers use it for their luggage.”

Paschal Nnorli, manager, Abuja-Kaduna train service, said he had to disguise as a passenger to be able to confirm the complaints by passengers.

The 11 ticket officials affected at the two stations were replaced immediately.