Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has recommended the criminal charge of manslaughter for anyone caught engaging in vandalism of railway lines and facilities in the country.
He made the suggestion Friday when he appeared on the ministerial media briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that applying stringent laws will curb the habit, which he said, can cause train derailment and kill unsuspecting passengers.
Amaechi lamented that railway clips are frequently stolen causing the country huge amounts of hard currency to replace.
The Minister also confirmed that the Nigerian government is in talks with European banks for loans as much as $3.02 billion to fund major railway projects.
He revealed that Nigeria specifically negotiating with Standard Chartered Plc for two rail projects in South and Northern regions.
“If the Chinese don’t turn up in the next few months, why shouldn’t we approach the European banks to fund Ibadan to Kano? I will put that before the Minister of Finance.
“The Standard Chartered Bank has agreed to fund Lagos – Calabar, we are negotiating with them. We are negotiating Port Harcourt – Maiduguri. Kano – Maradi is funded by Pedy-Swiss. We will look for money from everybody”, he said.
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