The protesters in Maiduguri, Borno State, carried placards asking the NRC not to move the train coaches to any other state.
Hundreds of residents stormed the Maiduguri Railway Terminus on Sunday to protest the removal of train coaches from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to Jos for repairs by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
The protesters carried placards asking the NRC not to move the coaches out of Maiduguri, North-eastern Nigeria, to any other state.
Some online reports initially gained traction on Saturday that the coaches were being stolen until a statement by the NRC denied the claim and clarified that they were being moved to Jos, the capital of Plateau State, North-central Nigeria, for repairs.
One of the protesters in Maiduguri on Sunday, Malam Ibrahim, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they suspected that the government was trying to deny Borno of having a train service.
"At the peak of insurgency, the NRC came and took two of the coaches; now they are trying to take everything away. This is unacceptable," he said.
Another protester, Babakura Goni, said the removal of the coaches would deny Borno of critical infrastructure.
Mr Goni noted that the intention of the NRC or the government was not properly understood, noting that there should be transparency in the exercise.
Yet another protester, Babagana Chiroma, said: "This is an economic sabotage of our state. They want to go and renovate the coaches and put them into use in another state."
Mr Chiroma urged the Borno State government to intervene against the action of the NRC.
Borno deputy governor speaks
Addressing the protesters, Borno State's deputy governor, Usman Kadafur, urged the protesters to be patient, assuring them that the government was already addressing the issue.
He noted that the protesters were expressing their displeasure over the action of the NRC because there was insufficient sensitisation on its part.
The deputy governor enjoined the federal government to look into the possibility of rehabilitating the coaches in Maiduguri and not to take them outside Borno.
Mr Kadafur assured the protesters that the government would not allow the action to be undertaken without transparency.
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"The Federal Government should look into the possibility of reviving the rail system to revamp our socio-economic activities.
"This rail terminus in Maiduguri has a history of enhancing trans-Sahara activities with neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
"This administration will not allow such action. We are representatives of the federal government in Borno.
"If the NRC wanted to engage in such activity, it ought to have informed the state government or even sensitised our people about the move.
"This government will engage with the Federal Government to ensure that things are done in the proper way and transparently," Mr Kadafur further assured.
Why coaches were moved - NRC
A story had gone viral on various social media platforms on Saturday that some hoodlums were carting the coaches away in trucks.
Police stormed the train station in Maiduguri to foil the suspected theft and arrested some "suspects".
But the Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, said in a statement that the people moving the coaches were doing so in an official capacity.
Mr Okhiria said the coaches were being moved to NRC's Running Shed in Jos to be overhauled and put back on track. (NAN)
