BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
Nigeria is considering hiring private security operators to protect railway lines, including a central route from the capital that has been attacked by criminal gangs and terrorists at least twice this year.
The cash-strapped government is seeking public-private partnership options after estimating that installing security equipment on the track that links the capital, Abuja, to Kaduna in the north could cost as much as N9billion ($21 million), Transportation Minister Muazu Sambo said on Wednesday.
Sambo said the government aims to work with companies that have done similar jobs in other countries, beginning with the Abuja-Kaduna line before adding other parts of the rail network.
“They put in the infrastructure and personnel and then we pay as you go,” the minster said.
Violence has spread across the country over the years, with armed groups frequently carrying out deadly attacks, mass abductions and killings.
In March, terrorists attacked the Abuja-Kaduna line, which was built with a $500 million Chinese loan, killing eight people and abducting over 100.
The incident forced the government to shut down the track, losing billions of naira in revenue from passenger traffic.
The attack prompted the government to look into “technology-based solutions” to curtailing insecurity on the railways, the minister explained.
