Passengers are currently trapped after a Kaduna-bound train from Abuja went off track and fell just after Kubwa station.
The incident has triggered panic with railway officials are making efforts to remedy the situation.
As at the time of filling this report, no government authority has made any comment regarding the situation.
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As the Abuja-Kaduna train service resumes today, eight months after shutdown, the fare prices have been reviewed upward for all classes of coaches.
Recall the Minister of Transportation, Alh. Muazu Sambo Jaji announced last week the train service will resume this week and that intending travelers should brace for a new fare regime.
Although the new fare hasn’t been announced publicly by the Nigerian Railway Railways Corporation, the operators of the train service, the new pricing has been effected online on the NRC online ticketing App, our correspondent learned.
Details on the new pricing template show that the Inside the Standard coach (economy) now cost N3,600 from the previous N2600, representing a N1,000 increment. The business class now goes for N6,500 as against the N5,000 previously charged. The Executive Class will now go N9,000 as against the N6,000 previously charged. Online purchases will a little extra cost on each fee.
Recall at the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown, the NRC raised the ticket cost by 100 percent. Pre-COVID, first-class Express trip cost N3,000; First-class normal trip: N2,500; the economy express trip was N1,500, and the economy normal trip was N1,300. After COVID, the fare became N6,000, N5,000, N3000 and N2,600 respectively.
Terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train abducting over 61 people have released another seven hostages, including a family of six and a woman.
The identities of the released family of six are Abdubakar Idris Garba, his wife, Maryam Abubakar Bobo, and their eldest son, Ibrahim Abubakar Garba, who’s 10 years old.
Others include Fatima Abubakar Garba (7), Imran Abubakar Garba (5), and youngest Zainab Abubakar Garba, who is only one and half years old.
Abubakar Idris Garba, a staff of the National Assembly Service Commission, is the son of a former Military Administrator of Kano and Benue States.
Also released is a 60-year-old woman, one Hajia Aisha Hassan, who was said to have been released due to life-threatening health challenges that deteriorated recently.
Although Tukur Mamu, Publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald and Media Consultant to a controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, withdrew as one of the negotiators, he confirmed the release of the seven hostages to journalists in Kaduna.
Mamu said the seven were released following the intervention of his principal, Gumi.
Relatives and friends of the abducted passengers of the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna AK-9 train, on Thursday, vowed to take over the streets and occupy key government facilities in Abuja and Kaduna in protest to demand the release of their loved ones in kidnappers’ den for more than 94 days.
They said the protest would start on Tuesday to coincide with the 100 days remembrance when bandits attacked and the subsequent took away 63 of their loved ones.
Of the 61 victims of the abducted train passengers, 11 had already been released after spending 3 months in the kidnappers territory while 50 are yet to be released.
A victim by name Mohammed Al’Amin, was shot on Monday by the bandits, eliciting public outcry that the Federal Government should hasten up negotiation for the release of hostages.
While addressing journalists in Kaduna on Thursday, the families said they were worried that their loved ones are still languishing in the forest, considering reports of snake bites and the gunshot injury the captive had suffered.
Speaking on behalf of the families, Dr. Abdulaziz Atta, whose 85-year-old mother and elder sister were among the victims, said members of victims’ families would be staging a sit-down and occupy protest at public facilities until their loved ones are rescued.
Atta said, “We read from the media report that one of our loved ones, Al-Amin, was shot and that it was an accidental discharge by one of the non-state actors guarding our loved ones. But the key question now is this; what is the state of health of the person that sustained gunshot wounds?
There are no antibiotics and nobody to remove the bullets from his body. Just imagine the current situation that he will be in the bush. He needs urgent support. If he is not brought out of the bush, we may lose him.
The families urged to government to hasten up their intervention to free the kidnap victims or risk their planned protest.
Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of transportation has said that the terrorist attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train would have been avoided if the Federal Government had hearkened to his warning on same. The Minister, following the attack said that he has severally warned of possible attack on the train and rail facilities, but for the insincerity of his colleagues in government who misconstrued his genuine demand for more money.
“When you come with sincerity to government and your colleagues and people are stopping you, it is annoying.”
The minister said that it was imperative to have necessary digital security and crime prevention equipment that could forestall event as was witnessed few days ago where many Nigerians lost their lives and others kidnapped by terrorists.
Addressing journalists after visiting the scene of the incident on Tuesday, the expressed dissatisfaction over the incident, which he claimed, could have been averted with relevant digital security equipment in place.
“We knew what the problem would be. We knew we needed to have digital security equipment. We applied for it. But it was not granted us”.
“Because if we had those equipment, you will see nobody on that track. And I warned that lives will be lost. Now, lives are lost. Eight persons dead, 25 persons in the hospital.
“We don’t know how many persons have been kidnapped. And the cost of that equipment is just N3 billion. The cost of what we’ve lost is more than N3 billion.
The Minister said that to fix it would cost Nigeria more now to get the destroyed facilities fixed, and even to get the digital security instruments, going by the rising cost of dollar.
“All the things on that track now, will cost us more than N3 billion. And now even the things we said give us approval to buy – at the time we asked for it, dollar was N400, now it is N500.
