ABUJA — The Nigerian Railway Corporation has indefinitely suspended train operations along the Abuja-Kaduna route.
The Corporation disclosed this via a post on its official Twitter handle @Official_NRC on Tuesday morning.
The NRC in a terse statement said that the suspension was due to unforeseen circumstances.
“Dear passengers, due to unforeseen circumstances, Train operations along the Abuja-Kaduna route has been temporarily suspended. Further communication would be given in due course.”
On Monday, news of how terrorists bombed the Abuja-Kaduna rail tracks and attacked a train filled with passengers in the night.
It was also reported that security operatives were deployed to the scene of the attack.
The attack came a few days after the terrorists attacked the Kaduna International Airport where an aircraft was prevented from taking off.
A source who spoke to journalists at the scene of the attack said that “they (terrorists) planted IED. When it went off, it derailed the train. There was pandemonium everywhere and some people may be kidnapped.”
According to Kaduna State’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Nigerian Red Cross evacuated the trapped passengers in the train.
Many passengers were feared injured while several others were said to have been kidnapped by the assailants.
Mr. Aruwan in a statement on Tuesday morning said that the passengers who sustained injuries, and other fatalities, have been moved to hospitals.
According to him, the passengers were evacuated from different hard-to-reach areas in forests and rocky locations in Audujongom, off the Kaduna-Abuja Road.
“As stated yesterday, the Kaduna State Government is still liaising with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to ascertain the list from the passengers manifest for efficient tracking”.
He noted that Governor Nasir El-Rufai who commended all those who participated in the evacuation appealed to the hospitals to attend to the victims diligently.
The Governor also directed the Ministry of Health to be in contact with the hospitals as the government will bear the cost of their treatment.
“As of the time of this update, search-and-rescue operations are in progress”, he added.
Following the incident, troops have been mobilised to the scene of the attack.
