The tragic train attack

The terrorist attack on a Kaduna-bound train has clearly indicated that the general insecurity in the country is getting worse. The terrorists had reportedly blown the rail track with explosive devices at Dutse village in Kaduna. The incident which occurred at 7.45 pm led to the derailment of the Abuja-Kaduna train and the death of eight passengers and 29 others seriously injured. While some passengers were taken hostage by the terrorists, the wounded passengers were rescued by soldiers and taken to some hospitals for treatment.

Among the dead was a young female dentist, Dr. Chinelo Megafu Nwando, who died from injuries she sustained from gunshots. Some other prominent individuals killed were the Director of the National Board for Technical Education, Abdul Kofarmata; the Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Musa-Lawal Ozigi; and the Kwara State Chairman of the TUC, Akinsola Akinwunmi.

 Barely 24 hours after the devastating attack, there were reports of another attack along the same axis, precisely at the Gidan Train Station. Arising from these deadly attacks, the Nigerian Railway Corporation has suspended the Abuja-Kaduna railway operations.

Two days earlier, some bandits had invaded the Kaduna International Airport, killing a security guard. Although soldiers quickly repelled the attack, some airlines suspended flights to Kaduna. Due to frequent attacks on travellers on Abuja-Kaduna road, most people resorted to using rail and air transport systems. This is probably why the terrorists started targeting the railways and airports in that axis.

It is ironical that Kaduna, which is home to many military institutions, could be prone to frequent daredevil attacks by terrorists. Some of the military institutions in Kaduna include the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), 1 Mechanised Division, the Nigerian Army School of Artillery in Kachia, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, the Nigerian Military School in Zaria, the Air Force Institute of Technology and others.

If Kaduna can be frequently attacked by the terrorists, it means that no place is safe any longer in Nigeria. Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto and many other states in the North are under siege. Last year, bandits attacked the NDA Kaduna killing two officers and kidnapping another. A month earlier, they had shot down a Nigerian Air Force jet in Zamfara/Kaduna border. Hundreds of Nigerians have lost their lives and many others abducted or displaced as a result of murderous attacks by bandits and other criminals in the North West region.

We condemn the tragic train attack and urge the security agents to apprehend the perpetrators with a view to bringing them to book. Besides, the government must rejig the nation’s security architecture and take the war to the terrorists. It is sad that on account of general insecurity, investors are scared and are offloading their investments in the stock exchange. Moreover, Nigeria has been classified as one of the countries seriously affected by terrorism.

Good enough, the Senate has asked the security agents to bomb the hideouts of the terrorists. The House of Representatives has invited the heads of the security agencies to an emergency meeting, and also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on insecurity.

President Buhari has also given marching orders to security chiefs to go after the terrorists, and be more decisive on anyone wielding AK47 weapon unlawfully. While charging the security chiefs to bring back all kidnapped passengers, the President also directed that the processes for the implementation of the integrated security surveillance and monitoring solution for the Abuja-Kaduna rail line be immediately concluded and also extended to Lagos-Ibadan rail line.

The President’s action came rather too late. In October last year, terrorists had similarly deployed explosives on the Abuja-Kaduna rail track, which damaged the rail track and shattered the windshield of the Kaduna bound train. After the incident, government assured that it would not recur and that it would deploy security devices along that route to ensure safety of the rail line.

Since bureaucracy reportedly truncated the installation of security devices to check attacks on the train tracks, let the security sensors be installed now to avert future train attacks.  

Considering the frequency of these vicious attacks, the Federal Government needs to wake up. It is no longer enough for the President to give marching orders to security chiefs. Such orders must be backed with concrete, proactive actions. Now that we are approaching the 2023 general election season, the spate of insecurity will likely increase.

We had earlier called for the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police as a way of curbing the general insecurity. Unfortunately, nothing has been done in that regard. In all, there should be a reconfiguration of our security system with more emphasis on intelligence and technology. We sympathise with those who lost their loved ones in the incident and wish the wounded quick recovery.