‘There was an explosion,’ Abuja-Kaduna train passengers recount ordeal, as police refute Sani’s terrorism claims

Despite insistence by the police that the disrupted Abuja-Kaduna train service on Wednesday was caused by a faulty part on the locomotive, passengers on the trip say there was an explosion, which crippled the engine leaving commuters stranded on the rail line for four hours.

Following claims by former senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial zone, Shehu Sani, Thursday that terrorists had attacked a train service from Abuja-Kaduna Kaduna on Wednesday, destroying parts of the locomotive in the attack, the state police command had come out to deny such reports, as it stated that the train had merely developed an engine problem which halted its movement.

However, Sani provided proof of a suspected attack as he showed spots where the bandits had planted explosive devices on the rail tracks.

Senator Sani had posted a video of the supposed train that was attacked via his verified his Twitter account, Thursday morning.

The former lawmaker who said he boarded the early morning train of Thursday added that his train had run over another explosive that damaged the railings adding that the train nearly skid-off its path but ‘miraculously escaped.’

“Yesterday, terrorists attacked the Kaduna Abuja railway with an explosive & opened fire on the train, targeting the Engine Driver & the Tank.

“This morning, I was on board when our train ran over another explosive damaged rail track. it took a miracle for us to escape,” he tweeted.

However, the state police command responded by debunking Senator Sani’s claims of terrorists attack on the train which was shuttling the route, Wednesday night.

Speaking to newsmen on Thursday, the state’s police spokesperson, Mohammed Jalige, denied the senator’s claim.

“That is not true, the command is not aware of anything. The train was faulty yesterday on its way coming from Abuja to Kaduna which caused a delay in people’s arrival time.

“They were no any explosives denoted; there was no any attack,” Jalige said.

This is just as passengers of the train have now confirmed the incident, corroborating Sani’s claims of an explosion.

Similarly, pictures from the scene of the mishap now also suggest an explosion on the rail track which may have caused the train to develop major faults.

The incident which occurred between Dutse and Rijana stations on the Abuja-Kaduna shuttle, after the 6pm train came to a standstill, was the last shuttle for the day.

Reports also claim that the train was eventually dragged to the Rigasa train station at around 2am when a new locomotive was transported from Idu train Station in Abuja to rescue stranded commuters.

Former NUJ Chairman in Kaduna, Garba Mohammed, who was on the train, said there was pandemonium as commuters were left at the mercy of few Police officers about 40 klillometers to Rigasa station.

He said all was well when the train took off from Abuja but two sub-station to its final destination at Rigasa, there was a bang and the train gradually halted.

“The lights went off, the AC’s stopped working and we were locked up in the coaches. There was no network, there was no water to drink, people resorted to drinking water from the toilet taps and the toilets became unusable.

“40 killometers to Kaduna, we heard a loud sound and security agents asked us to take cover. A few minutes later, the security agents were moving around. We had to open the windows because of the heat and we could see the main road from the track where the train had stopped,” Mohammed narrated.

According to him, there had been security reinforcement from the military who four hours later escorted them to Rigasa train station with a new locomotive.

“The new locomotive was slow and what should have been a journey of 30 minutes took almost 2 hours. By the time we got to Rigasa station, there were a lot of people who were in panic and waiting for their loved ones.

“Some people said the train was attacked, but there was no threat to us throughout the period we were stranded, which is about four hours.

“If someone attacks a train and makes it stop for about four hours, then they have enough time to trace the location of the train and attack it, we were at the mercy of a few security officers before the reinforcement came but we were not attacked,” he said.

Another passenger, Josephine Isiaku, said that for four hours that they were stranded in an unknown location, train crew and security agents did not explain the situation to commuters adding, “we were left to our own fears and speculations.”

NRC suspends Abuja-Kaduna railway operations indefinitely

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has suspended operations indefinitely on the Abuja-Kaduna train service following damage done to the rail tracks by an explosive device planted by suspected bandits.

Reacting to the suspected bandits’ attack on its train, the NRC, in a statement via its website, on Thursday afternoon, said operations have been suspended till further notice.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, train services have been immediately suspended for the safety of our dear passengers.

“Efforts are in place to restore service. Further information would follow immediately service is restored,” the statement said.

It is not yet clear as what alternatives are available to commuters who shuttle the route daily following the suspension of the train service.

The Abuja-Kaduna train service has become a necessity, as bandits have laid siege to the road alternative, constantly kidnapping for ransom or killing, maiming commuters who dared the barely two-hour shuttle.

Vandals behind attack on Abuja-Kaduna train, says MD of NRC

Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has Fidet Okhiria has also denied claims that terrorist or bandits were responsible for the Wednesday attack on its train.

Okhiria stated that it was vandals that actually attacked the train service, adding that parts of the rail track were destroyed in the attack.

He, however, revealed that a probe has begun to determine how the attack happened and ways to avert future occurrences.

The NRC boss added that the service should be restored by Thursday evening following the repair of the rail track

“It’s true our rail track was damaged.

“So we have issues with the track and we are fixing it. We are working to resume train services and by today’s (Thursday) evening, we should run if possible.

“We operated a train from Kaduna to Abuja this morning (Thursday) but we had to suspend operations due to the damaged track until we fix it.”