It was a very chaotic situation at the port on Thursday as a train bringing containers into the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) Apapa derailed and rammed into a moving truck laden with fully loaded 2 by 20-foot containers.
BusinessDay understands that it took several hours to bring the situation under control as there was no access into some of the terminals in Apapa particularly the ENL Terminal, APM Terminals, and the Apapa Bulk Terminal Ltd, through the railway crossing.
Confirming this, an official of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), who does not want his name in the print, confirmed that there was no casualty at the accident.
The source confirmed that the situation was salvaged by the NPA, Nigerian Railway Corporation with the assistance of the Apapa Bulk Terminal Ltd crane, which was used to remove the train wreckage in order to create access.
“The train was bringing containers into the port and it must have derailed slightly and it hit a moving truck. The truck already had clearance to move because the train had already passed through, we do not know why the train came back.
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“We have already mobilised cranes to remove the wreckage, normalcy has returned, and access has been restored at the port now,” the source added.
According to the NPA staff, all hands were on deck to quickly ensure that the wreckage was cleared, and that was achieved at about 6 pm in the evening of Thursday.
Frank Aliako, an eyewitness to the accident, confirmed to Daily Trend News that normalcy has returned at the port.
According to him, “The NPA officials said the train had already given them signals that it was coming into the port, and they closed the railway crossing at the roundabout.
“The truck driver was waiting at the roundabout and somebody signaled him to start coming since the train had not come yet. He came down, opened the closed barricade, and started moving, by that time, the moving train was already too close. The truck head had already escaped, but the body of the truck and the two containers on it were rammed to the wall of ENL,” he explained.
According to him, the container was fully loaded and the owners of the container must have lost a lot.
Aliakor said NPA officials, Anti-Bomb Square, Customs officers, and Nigerian Railway Corporation officials were all on the ground to handle the situation.
He said that the event stretched into the usual closing hours, thereby making it impossible for a lot of port users to leave the port on time.
