Published By Demilade Adeniyi
The Nigerian Railway yesterday confirmed attack on its last train (AK10) on the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail line on Wednesday.
In a statement issued by the NRC Management on Thursday, in Lagos, the NRC described the incident as “an explosion” which affected the rail track affecting the fuel tank of the locomotive of the last train on Wednesday evening.
The statement said the situation was brought under control and a relief locomotive had rescued the affected train to the workshop at the Rigasa Station, Kaduna State for appropriate assessment and repairs.
“We are pleased to inform the public that there were no reported casualties or injuries to either the passengers or train crew. The NRC intends to resume train services soonest, after appropriate measures, checks and maintenance are carried out.
The NRC Management apologized for the inconveniences experienced for the non-operations of train services currently even as it assures that it is working at restoring normal services on the route.
The confirmation put paid to speculation since Senator Shehu Sani broke the news of the incident on his Facebook Timeline yesterday.
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Senator Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the eighth Assembly, at the National Assembly was one of the passengers who escaped derailment, when their train ran over the blown portion of the rail track somewhere between Dutse and Rijana, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, on Wednesday night.
Shehu Sani, former senator representing Kaduna central, says the Abuja-Kaduna train he boarded was attacked with explosives.
In a tweet on Thursday, Sani said it “took a miracle” for him and other passengers on the train to escape.
The former senator said bandits opened fire on the train on Wednesday night in another attack.
“Yesterday, terrorists attacked the Kaduna Abuja railway with an explosive and opened fire on the train, targeting the engine driver & the tank,” he tweeted.
“This morning, I was on board when our train ran over another explosive and it damaged the rail. It took a miracle for us to escape.”
However, Sani’s account is a different from reports on Wednesday’s incident.
The train was said to have broken down around 8:00 pm after its engine collapsed.
There are no reports of gunfire or of the attackers invading the train after it came to a halt.
A backup train reportedly got to the passengers around 12:15 am and safely took all on board to Kaduna.