Terrorists loyal to Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) and Ansaru were responsible for the destruction of the Abuja-Kaduna rail track, the Daily Trust was told on Thursday.
Train services in the Abuja-Kaduna corridor were partially obstructed Wednesday night after the terrorists reportedly blew a section of the track using dynamites.
The assailants returned in the early hours of Thursday and inflicted serious damage on the rail track, forcing the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to suspend services.
Though the NRC described the development as an act of vandalism, credible security sources fingered terrorists.
Passengers said one of the locomotives, which left Abuja at 6 pm Wednesday hit the first explosive planted by the assailants around 8 pm.
They said that they were stranded for almost six hours before a second locomotive that left Abuja to lend support pulled them to the Rigasa Train Station in Kaduna around 2.30 am.
The second explosion reportedly went off Thursday when the train for the 6.40 am service that left Rigasa Station in Kaduna ran over another set of explosives that damaged the railings.
Former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, who boarded the morning train for Abuja, wrote on his Facebook page that the train he was travelling in nearly veered off the track but “miraculously escaped”.
A senior security source confirmed to our reporter that security agents had in the last few days intercepted and neutralised terrorists attempting to blow up bridges and rail tracks around the Kaduna axis of the rail line.
“These (attacks) have the signature of ISWAP and Ansaru written all over it, bandits want to kidnap and trade human beings for ransom but this is clear terrorism,” he said.
“The aim was to kill the people on the train. But we thank God that they have not succeeded,” he said.
Another top security source confirmed that within the last few days, security agents had intercepted information of an attempt to blow up one of the rail line bridges but through concerted efforts, the terrorists could not succeed.
While presenting its security report for the third quarter on Wednesday, Kaduna State Government had hinted of growing interaction between terrorists and bandits in the state.
Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said, “Security agencies have been alive to the growing interaction of bandits and terrorists. Many Boko Haram terrorists were intercepted trying to enter Kaduna State.
The Ansaru group has also grown in stature and visibility, as evidenced by the slaughter of 21 residents of Inono, Sabuwa LGA of neighbouring Katsina State.”
The management of the NRC on Thursday issued a statement announcing the suspension of train services due to what it called ‘unforeseen circumstances.
“There was an explosion on the rail track that affected the fuel tank of the locomotive on Abuja to Kaduna fast tram (AK10).”
It said the affected locomotive has been sent to the workshop for assessment and repairs adding that there was no casualty from the attacks. In a phone interview with one of our correspondents, NRC’s Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, refuted the claim of bandits’ attack.
Okhiria said the rail track was destroyed by suspected vandals.
He said the vandalism of NRC facilities was on the increase in recent times. “We have issues with the track and we are fixing it. We are working to resume train services and by today’s (Thursday) evening, we should run if possible,” he said.
But train services had not returned as of Thursday’s evening.
Commuters on the Kaduna-Abuja train on Thursday narrated how they spent over six hours in a secluded area after explosive devices were planted on the rail track.
Former NUJ Chairman in Kaduna, Garba Mohammed, who was on the train on Wednesday, said there was pandemonium as commuters were left at the mercy of a few police officers.
Mohammed said, “Forty kilometres to Kaduna, we heard a loud sound and security agents asked us to take cover. A few minutes later, the security agents were moving around. We had to open the windows because of the heat and we could see the main road from the track where the train stopped.”
Another commuter, Abba Adamu Musa, who followed the 6.40 am train from Abuja to Kaduna on Thursday, said they were also stranded around the Jere substation.
“We were stranded for two hours and initially we thought there was a problem with our locomotive, but gradually, rumours filtered that the train from Kaduna had hit some explosives.
“They had to do a manual switch over and so, the locomotive pulled us back to Abuja,” he said.
Daily Trust reports that a gigantic project embarked upon by the NRC to help reduce the risk of accidents or attacks had been abandoned.
The construction of a barricade with blocks on the right and left side of the rail track from the Kubwa Station had been abandoned for a long time.
The project was announced in 2016 to among other things safeguard NRC assets and deny animals from straying.
It is not clear how much was budgeted for the project and why it was stalled. Some officials contacted yesterday declined to comment on the matter.
In August 2016, the federal government said it had introduced armed guards on the trains that ply the Abuja to Kaduna rail line.
It also stated that it had drafted hundreds of police officers to man the route of the rail service.
The government disclosed this on its official Twitter handle, noting that there had been questions relating to the security being provided for the service.
In the tweet, the government said the question for the Federal Ministry of Transportation during the Federal Executive meeting was on security for the Abuja-Kaduna rail route.
However, with what happened on the Abuja-Kaduna route on Wednesday and Thursday, Daily Trust gathered that the NRC is reviewing its security architecture on train routes across the country.
A source who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said, “Again, this is not just about Abuja-Kaduna train service now. Tomorrow it could be Lagos-Ibadan or any other train facility.”
Our correspondent gathered that the Commissioner of Police in charge of train operations had arrived in Abuja from Lagos to inspect the nature of the explosion and the possible cause of it.
The above story first appeared in Daily Trust, https://dailytrust.com/iswap-ansaru-bomb-rail-track-ground-abuja-kaduna-services