Minister Sets Up 12-man Panel To Probe Train Derailment As NRC MD Apologises

Minister of Transportation, Sen. Said Ahmed Alkali has constituted a 12-member committee to investigate the root causes of the train derailment on August 26, 2025.

The minister assigned the committee members the task of investigating the immediate and remote causes of the accident and to make recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents in the future.

They are also to identify ways to enhance rail transportation’s safety and effectiveness in Nigeria.

The minister, who commiserated with those injured, thanked God for sparing the lives of everyone on the train.

RELATED: NRC Suspends Abuja-Kaduna Train Services After Derailment

Members of the committee, according to a statement signed by the ministry’s director of press, Janet McDickson Noah, include: the director overseeing the office of the permanent secretary, Musa Ibrahim, as chairman; technical adviser to the minister, Prof. Danwaka Shuaibu; director of road transport services, Engr. Zirra   Finbar; director of legal, Barr. Omotola Olusegun, who will serve as committee secretary; MD, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Dr. Kayode Opeifa; inspector of Railway, Engr. I.A Ebuniwe, representative of Technics Engineering Architecture Marketing Nig. Ltd; representative of   CCECC; representative of Civil Society Organisation; one male and one female representative of passengers.

Meanwhile, the managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Kayode Opeifa, has said he takes full responsibility for Tuesday’s derailment of the Abuja-Kaduna train, which occurred along the Kaduna corridor shortly after departure from Abuja.

He stated this during a Wednesday episode on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’.

Opeifa assured Nigerians that the ongoing investigation into the incident would be thorough and transparent.

He said, “Beyond apologising to Nigerians, I want to state clearly that I take full responsibility as the managing director and chief executive.

“When it comes to safety, there is no room for indifference. Once something like this happens, the chief executive must own it, and I do.”

He further revealed that the injuries to four Abuja-Kaduna train passengers were serious.

“Coming to the fatality and the casualties, there was no fatality. We thank God. That was a near miss because for this kind of accident or incident, you see some level of fatality, but we thank God for this.

Four of the injured were seriously injured, and another two or so were discharged immediately. We will follow up on those who might still be in the hospital.

“So we’ll also follow up with the remaining 618 people on the train because of the post-traumatic experience. We have the full contacts and we’ll do that,” the NRC boss stated.