Kaduna-Abuja train attack: Buhari, National Assembly, governors demand tough actions, survivors recount ordeal

At least eight out of the 398 passengers, who boarded the ill-fated Kaduna-bound train from Abuja around 6pm on Monday, have been confirmed dead by the federal and state governments, while 28 are currently hospitalised and several others still unaccounted for.

The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the figures, also disclosed that from the manifest received from the Nigerian Railway Corporation, 398 passengers bought tickets, but 362 were validated.

Aruwan said the passengers’ manifest excluded the NRC workers and security officials on board the train, adding that several passengers could not be accounted for.

The commissioner stated that investigations were still ongoing to ascertain the status of the passengers who were on board the train and remain unaccounted for as of the time of filing this report.Among the dead was a dentist, Chinelo Megafu-Nwando, who was said to have recently resigned from her job and was planning to migrate to another country.

Megafu-Nwando had taken to Twitter shortly after the attack to announce that she had been shot and solicited prayers. She was later confirmed dead, while her remains were deposited in the mortuary of the St Gerard Catholic Hospital, Kaduna.

Also confirmed killed were the Director of the National Board for Technical Education, Abdul Kofarmata; the Kwara State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Akinsola Akinwunmi; and the TUC General Secretary, Musa-Lawal Ozigi.

The terrorists, who victims said were between the ages of 18 and 22, were reported to have placed an Improvised Explosive Device on the tracks around Dutse inwards the Rigasa Train Station.

After detonating the device and forcing the train to derail and fall on its side, the terrorists shot at it indiscriminately. Not done, they dragged some of the passengers out into waiting buses and drove into the bush before the late arrival of security operatives over an hour later.

As of press time, a large number of passengers were still unaccounted for, including the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Hassan. Also abducted was a former Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, Ibrahim Wakkala, who was shot but later set free.

A source at the BoA said Hassan was last seen when he boarded the train and all efforts to reach him since the attack, which happened around 8pm on Monday, had not been successful.