Tension as Bandits Bomb Kaduna-Abuja Rail Track, Train Carrying Hundreds of Passengers Derailed
- There was panic in Nigeria on Monday, March 28, as bandits attacked Kaduna-Abuja rail track, making a train filled with passengers to derail
- One of the passengers said the assailants began to fire gunshots sporadically after the train was forced to stop
- Reports, however, indicate that security agents have been mobilised to the area to rescue the passengers from the terrorists
A Kaduna-bound train derailed on Monday after explosives believed to be IED’s planted on the rail track went off around Katari, Kaduna state.
According to Daily Trust, the 6pm train which took off from Idu train station at the Federal Capital Territory Monday hit an explosives device about 30 minutes to Rigasa train station in Kaduna.
Source: Twitter
Details are still sketchy at the time of filing this report. It is, however, gathered that security agents have been mobilised to the area to rescue the passengers.
A top security source in Kaduna was quoted to have said:
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“There is no network in the area so we cannot get any information until the team we have dispatched returns.
“What we know is that suspected IED’s were planted on the track and the train has derailed. We don’t know for sure if there is any injury or death."
Channels TV also reported that one of the hundreds of passengers on the train said the bandits bombed the train track with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which forced the train to derail.
Upon the stoppage of the train, the assailants were said to have begun to fire gunshots sporadically.
He added that the terrorists later forced their way into the train and kidnapped an unspecified number of people, with some others feared killed.
Nigeria Railway Corporation confirms attack on Abuja-Kaduna train
Meanwhile, Fidet Okhiria, the managing director, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), has confirmed the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train by suspected bandits.
Okhiria, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that "information concerning the attack was still sketchy, and no concrete information could be given at the moment."
He said:
"We have confirmed the attack, but we cannot give you much information right now.
”From the reports we have gotten, most of the passengers have gone into hiding and the officials on board are yet to give us report of the situation.
"There are reports of gunshots and the train derailed due to the attack."
Nigerian Air Force helicopters escort Abuja-Kaduna train to its destinations
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian military deployed some of its attack helicopters to monitor the Kaduna-Abuja railway tracks.
This was announced at a press briefing on Thursday, November 11, 2021, by the acting director, Defence Media Operations, Brigadier-General Bernard Onyeuko.
Although Brigadier-General Onyeuko did not say much on the new initiative, he, however, confirmed that the monitoring had started.
Source: Legit.ng
