Nigerian News

It was doctored – Lagos Transport Authority reacts to viral video of new train being pushed

The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority LAMATA has dismissed the viral video of some persons ‘’pushing” the recently commissioned Blue Line Rail in Marina, Lagos.

The video which has stirred reactions over the weekend showed officials of the Lagos State Rail Transport pushing a train.

A resident who was shocked at what he witnessed drew the attention of social media users with the clip he shared.

The train officials were positioned behind the monorail at Marina Train Station in the Outer Marina area of Lagos state.

LAMATA released a statement on Monday, stating that the video was doctored and noted that the train was actually in motion.

It however contradicted itself by also saying that that the footage which it claimed was doctored, is an old one that was recorded when the contractor’s staff were horsing around the train when it first came.

The agency also stated that a train that is 84m in length can not be pushed four persons.

The statement reads;

BE WARY OF ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT LAGOS BLUE LINE RAIL

The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) is in receipt of an obviously doctored video clip showing four people purportedly pushing one of the train sets to be deployed for passenger operations for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line.

From investigation, we discovered that the train was clearly moving, and this is an old video clip showing the contractor’s staff horsing around the train when it first came. The area now, since the commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari, has flags all around it as well as steel protective guard. Posting this video at this time is obviously the work of mischief makers.

“The average length of the train is 84m. This, definitely, cannot be pushed by four people as shown in the video clip. We appeal to our online community to be wary of those who are bent on doing everything to discredit this rail project.

We have successfully, without incident, carried over 15,000 people on test rides over the past six weeks. For those who have interacted with the rail system, it is obviously a game changer… Keeeping Lagos Moving.