The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to fast-track a modern railway corridor between Benin City and Lagos and to redesign the Sagamu–Benin expressway to include flyovers and pedestrian bridges, citing mounting insecurity and rising fatalities along the route.

At plenary presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, lawmakers adopted two separate motions that framed the transport corridor as both an economic lifeline and a public safety emergency.

Leading the call for a Benin–Lagos rail line, Omosede Igbinedion, who represents Ovia North-East/Ovia South-West Federal Constituency of Edo State, described the highway as overstretched, dilapidated and increasingly dangerous. She warned that the absence of a rail alternative has left commuters and businesses at the mercy of gridlock, armed robbery, kidnapping and frequent crashes.

Igbinedion argued that a dedicated rail corridor would decongest the highway, cut travel time, secure supply chains and deepen regional integration between the South-West and South-South. She framed rail investment as a national security measure as much as an economic one, insisting that vulnerable and high-traffic routes require safer mass transit options.

Following an overwhelming voice vote, the House urged the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Railway Corporation, to prioritise the Benin–Lagos line under the National Transport Master Plan. Lawmakers also called for integrated security features, including surveillance systems, railway police units and secured terminals, to be built into the project from inception.

In a related motion, Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji, representing Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency of Ogun State, drew attention to the human cost of the ongoing Sagamu–Benin expressway reconstruction. She said the expressway has effectively split Sagamu into two, with rapid population growth on one side forcing constant crossings of a high-speed carriageway.

Ayoola-Elegbeji listed several black spots, including the Sagamu Express Junction linking the Total Expressway with Ewu Oliwo, the RSS Junction and the Ikenne–Dalabo Junction, where schoolchildren, traders and commuters have been killed attempting to cross.

The House resolved that the Federal Ministry of Works should urgently review the project design to incorporate pedestrian bridges and flyovers at identified high-risk points, in collaboration with the Ogun State Government. It also tasked the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps with intensifying road safety campaigns and providing temporary crossings.

The Committee on Works was mandated to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the Sagamu axis and report back for further legislative action.