As many as 200 passengers were reportedly kidnapped during last Monday’s raid on a Kaduna-bound train by dare-devil terrorists in a well-organised operation.
Although 398 passengers reportedly bought tickets for the ill-fated trip, only a little over 362 checked in and boarded, out of which eight passengers were reportedly killed in the attack, 26 injured, and dozens still missing, while several others were unaccounted for.
The incident happened only a couple of days after unidentified gunmen had stormed the Kaduna airport, killing an official on the runway. Soldiers reportedly repelled the attack and the airport was shut down.
Last Monday’s train attack was the second in six months on the same route after explosives were laid on the tracks last October. Witnesses say that time, the train hobbled on to its destination afterwards.
Information emerging from the latest attack showed that the Secretary-General of the Trade Union Congress, Musa Lawal Ozigi, and a lady medical doctor with the St. Gerald’s Hospital, Chinelo Megafu, were among those killed by the terrorists.
The Nigerian Bar Association, on its part, lost Tibilere Mosugu and Farida Sulaiman, to the cold hands of death.
Similarly, a director with the National Board for Technical Education, Abdu Isa Kofa Mata, was killed during the attack.
A former deputy governor of Zamfara State, Ibrahim Wakkala, who was also on the train, reportedly sustained a gunshot wound on the leg, is among those currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
At the same time, the Managing Director of the Bank of the Agriculture, Alwan Ali Hassan, and his niece were reported to be part of the missing passengers on the train.
“With this attack, it appears that there is hardly anywhere in the country that is safe. It is a matter of serious concern that security breaches are happening at a time that the government is assuring the public that it is on top of the situation”
One of the eye-witnesses, who had been hauled into one of the small buses brought by the criminals and later escaped, told a newspaper that from all that he personally saw that evening, it was a well-organised operation, as all the terrorists had a walkie-talkie each for ease of communications.
The lucky passenger, who claimed to have followed their conversations after being put in one of the small buses, said he could hear them in one of their conversations, saying they needed to tidy up the operations and leave quickly, because they didn’t have much time left, apparently being fed with requisite information from those on the other side of the communication.
Since the Abuja-Kaduna rail route was launched in 2016, it has presented an alternative connection between two of the largest cities in the north. For many civil servants living in Kaduna and working in Abuja, it became the far more secure alternative as rampaging “bandits” took over the roads in the north.
Even senators and other ranking politicians became accustomed to standing in the coaches whenever they were congested, rather than taking the highways in their luxury cars with security convoys.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but witnesses have attributed it to “bandits”, the catchall phrase for criminal gangs masterminding frequent bouts of abduction, maiming, sexual violence and killings of citizens across vast swaths of northern Nigeria.
They number in the tens of thousands but go around in dozens, sometimes more. They also often announce their presence by riding mostly motorcycles – and sometimes horses – into towns and villages they invade, with a seemingly endless supply of ammunition.
Many of the groups are believed to comprise mostly ethnic Fulanis, including pastoralists and mercenaries from the West African region, particularly, neighbouring Chad and the Niger Republics.
On several occasions, they have kidnapped schoolchildren in various parts of Nigeria’s Niger, Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna and Yobe states. Other victims of their kidnapping-for-ransom scheme range across all social classes, from politicians and members of their families to imams, clergymen, security guards and farmers.
In May 2019, the district head of Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown in Katsina, was kidnapped. He was freed after two months. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said then that incident was evidence that Duara was not receiving preferential treatment and that insecurity was a national problem.
As expected, this latest mindless attack by terrorists has attracted global outrage and condemnation.
The entire world has commiserated with the families of those who were killed in the attack and sympathized with those who were hurt.
With this attack, it appears that there is hardly anywhere in the country that is safe.
It is a matter of serious concern that security breaches are happening at a time when the government is assuring the public that it is on top of the situation.
We call on the Federal Government and relevant agencies to be more vigilant and ensure that the ugly incident does not occur again.
Be that as it may, it is our point that the current security challenges confronting Nigeria can only be addressed if the root causes are identified.
We agree that the world is currently faced with issues of international terrorism, environmental degradation, natural disasters, drugs, organised crime, inter-state war, refugee problems, and failed state system.
We also agree that Nigeria is being attacked from “two axes of evil”, that is the Gulf of Guinea and the Sahel/Sudan Savannah, which are two specific areas throwing up security problems in Nigeria.
While the country is contending with the problem of oil theft and maritime-related crimes around the Gulf of Guinea, the Savannah harbours troublemakers, terrorists, drug cartels, human traffickers and dealers in arms proliferation.
There is no part of Nigeria that is not having its own specific security problems with our military overwhelmed at this moment.
Whatever it is that has made Nigeria turn into a killing in these large numbers and at such frequency is serious enough to command the urgent attention of leaders of governments at all levels in the country to take decisive steps to end this carnage.
