NRC Debunks Involvement In Ticket Racketeering

News Investigators/ The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says its attention has been drawn to a report going viral on social media accusing it of ticket racketeering on the  Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS).

The Chief Public Relations Officer of NRC, Callistus Unyimadu, said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

Mr Unyimadu said that an Instagram blogger made the allegation on her story entitled: “The NRC is stealing its own tickets to resell”.

He said the blogger  erroneously addressed NRC  as Nigeria Railway Commission and accused it of  creating artificial scarcity of the tickets so it could resell same through faceless agents at exorbitant prices.

Mr Unyimadu said that although the blogger admitted in the story that the NRC management had warned all prospective passengers to buy tickets only from the approved portal, she still approached ‘an agent” to buy a ticket.

He quoted the blogger as saying that although the tickets had been sold out on NRC’s e-ticketing portal, she bought a ticket from ‘an agent’ at twice the official price.

“Any member of the public who patronises a ‘ticket agent’ contrary to NRC’s warnings, do so at his or her own risk,” he said.

He said that NRC could not be held liable for such.

‘E-ticketing is a public/private partnership  arrangement, with SecureID/TPS handling the AKTS, Global Software Digital Solutions handling Lagos-Ibadan Train Service, and Fane Warri-Itakpe Ticketing Solutions Ltd. handling Warri-Itakpe Train Service,” he said.

He said that three concessionaires servicing ticketing demands on the standard gauges were approved by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Federal Executive Council before 2023.

He said that following the 2022 train bombing, the Federal Government introduced the use of National Identification Number (NIN) in  buying the tickets.

He said the aim  was to reduce racketeering, regretting that scammers had devised a way of acquiring multiple NINs to get the tickets and resell them to unsuspecting passengers.

He noted that the NRC in 2025 introduced double verification before boarding the train, similar to what obtained at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport 2, Lagos.

“While your NIN is checked to conform with the NIN used in purchasing the ticket, your personal ID card is required for boarding the train.

“The NRC ticketing and verification system is integrated live with the NIMC database.

“Our system at Idu, Kubwa in Abuja and at Rigasa in Kaduna has the capacity to pull and display the picture of the person whose NIN number was used in purchasing the ticket, from NIMC database.

“That is the first point of the two-way verification.”

According to Unyimadu, at this point, the individual with a third party ticket will be discovered and refused boarding.

“This capacity requires a good access control system at the station.

“The Rigasa/Kaduna station, being a hurriedly adopted station, does not have an acceptable access control system thereby occasionally allowing agents of scammers to overwhelm security operatives,” he said.

He  admitted that as a result of more Nigerians opting for rail services, there was demand-supply disequilibrium.

He said that, at the moment, the demand for the tickets far exceeded the number of seats available on the train.

“The corporation has declared zero tolerance for ticket racketeering, and staff of the corporation found culpable or colluding in the crime will be  dealt with.

“NRC assures all passengers and well-meaning Nigerians that it shall continue to be ahead of criminals and economic saboteurs who are bent on destroying the system and tarnishing its good image.

“The corporation shall continue to ensure quality customer service at all times across all our operation areas,” he said.

NAN