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  • Will the Abuja-Kaduna Railway Ever Be Safe to Reopen?

    Will the Abuja-Kaduna Railway Ever Be Safe to Reopen?

    Just hours to the planned November 26, 2022 resumption of operations on the Abuja-Kaduna railway corridor, the Federal Government announced a postponement. It’s not the first time the government has postponed a planned resumption since terrorists attacked the railway corridor in March.

    But more than the government’s erratic announcements and postponements, Nigerians remain worried about the safety of the corridor.


    What caused this safety concern?

    In March 2022, terrorists attacked a train travelling from Abuja to Kaduna and killed eight people. They kidnapped more than 60 passengers and the last set of hostages didn’t regain their freedom until October 2022.





    Damage on the Abuja-Kaduna carriage [BBC]

    It was the second major attack on the railway corridor after terrorists opened fire on another train in October 2021.

    How did the government respond?

    Even though all the hostages from the train attack are back home, the terrorists who kidnapped them haven’t been arrested. The only person the government has managed to arrest is a journalist who negotiated a ₦2 billion ransom for the terrorists in exchange for hostages.

    In August, the Minister of Transportation, Muazu Jaji Sambo, announced the government’s plan to install surveillance equipment around the corridor to prevent future attacks. But three months later, there are reports the equipment have not yet been installed. 

    Is the Abuja-Kaduna train safe?

    Even though the government has announced that passengers need to provide their national identification number (NIN) and phone number to buy a ticket, is that enough? 

    Naturally, Nigerians are reacting to the planned reopening and they aren’t too pleased with the government’s efforts.


    There have been reports of illegal NIN enrollment offices across the country, and terrorists can use them to bypass identification safeguards. The heightened insecurity in Kaduna also doesn’t help, as terrorists killed 645 people in the state in the first half of 2022 alone.

    When the Abuja-Kaduna railway corridor eventually reopens do you trust the Nigerian government to protect the lives of passengers?



    Chiamaka Dike

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  • How Buhari Negotiated With Terrorists and Lost

    How Buhari Negotiated With Terrorists and Lost

    When terrorists attacked a train on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line in March 2022, it represented a new low for the Buhari administration. The terrorists bombed the rail line, killed nine people and kidnapped dozens of passengers.

    The attack made a mockery of President Buhari’s supposed success in tackling insecurity. What Nigerians didn’t know at the time was that the government’s incompetence didn’t end there.

    Buhari’s bold face

    On August 11th, 2022, President Buhari met with representatives of the hostages in his castle in Abuja. He assured them that he was doing his best to ensure the release of the 31 hostages still left with the terrorists over four months after the attack. 

    The president also noted that the release of some of the hostages over the past few weeks was due to the efforts of his government.

    How Buhari Negotiated With Terrorists and Lost

    The face of someone that’s proud of doing his best even when his best isn’t enough

    But then, all the tea about how the terrorists continued to fool the president after the attack came from the mouth of his own senior special assistant, Garba Shehu.

    What we thought was happening

    Weeks after the train attack and abduction of the passengers, the terrorists demanded the release of their comrades in the government’s custody.

    One of their known leaders, Abu Barra, also demanded the release of his children. He accused the government of forcefully keeping them in custody in Adamawa. The government didn’t respond publicly to these demands and maintained a bold face. This was in line with the government’s policy of not negotiating with terrorists and defeating them in press statements instead.

    How Buhari Negotiated With Terrorists and Lost

    But the terrorists kept demanding ransom from the families of their hostages and lined their pockets with hundreds of millions of naira. This led to the release of some of the hostages in different batches over the past four months.

    But new revelations show Buhari could have secured the release of the hostages without their families having to lose money in ransom. The only problem was the president tried and failed quite spectacularly.

    ALSO READ: What Happens When Nigerian Police Officers Clash With Soldiers?

    What really happened

    The release of the hostages for ransom has attracted more ridicule for the Buhari government. To fight back against the accusation that it’s done nothing to help the hostages, Shehu spilled the beans on some details that should have probably stayed inside the pot.

    How Buhari Negotiated With Terrorists and Lost

    In an interview with BBC Hausa on August 12th, 2022, Shehu said the government cooperated with the terrorists when they first took the hostages. They reached an arrangement that would allow the terrorists to get what they want so the government could get the hostages back. What could possibly go wrong?

    For its part of the gentleman’s agreement, the government took care of the pregnant wife of one of the terrorist leaders. On the government’s watch, fully-funded by taxpayers, she delivered twins. 

    The government, feeling very generous, handed her over to her husband’s parents, fulfilling the demand of the terrorists for her release. This was the first time the government scratched the back of the terrorists and you’d expect the terrorists to scratch back. But what’s a little oath-breaking for terrorists? 

    When it was time to fulfil their own part of the bargain, the terrorists said:

    How Buhari Negotiated With Terrorists and Lost

    Still marinating in his humiliation and (probably) concerned about the poor hostages, Buhari succumbed to more demands from the terrorists. Remember those children Abu Barra said were in detention in Adamawa? Well, the government sent a plane to pick them up and gift-wrapped them to the terrorists.

    But did the terrorists give the president a reacharound for his troubles?

    Instead, they started asking him for money. And this was the point Buhari realised the terrorists were hustling him like a JJC in Oshodi Underbridge.

    How Buhari Negotiated With Terrorists and Lost

    We assume no one was holding a gun to Shehu’s head when he made these revelations, so why did he make them despite being very embarrassing to Buhari?

    Well, he did it so that he could say, “People shouldn’t say the government is doing nothing.” And this only proves that if there’s one thing Buhari hates, it’s insult. But public humiliation is fine.

    ALSO READ: Buhari’s Old Tweets That Have Aged Like Fried Rice

    Samson Toromade

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  • Everything We Know About the Train Attack in Kaduna

    Everything We Know About the Train Attack in Kaduna

    Two days after terrorists attacked the Kaduna International Airport, Kaduna State is back in the news again over another attack.

    What happened?

    Terrorists attacked an Abuja-Kaduna train between Katari and Rijana in Kaduna on Monday, March 28th 2022. The attack started around 8 p.m.

    The terrorists bombed the rail tracks to force the train to stop before they invaded it to attack passengers. Some of the passengers raised alarm on social media to alert the authorities of the developing situation.

    A Facebook user, Anas Iro Danmusa, posted this:

    Danmusa later posted that Nigerian military troops eventually arrived at the scene and chased the terrorists just before 10 p.m.

    Another passenger, identified as Dr Megafu Nwando Chinelo, also posted on Twitter around 9 p.m. that she had been shot by the terrorists.

    Chinelo’s friends have announced that she didn’t survive the gunshot wound.

    The terrorists also kidnapped some passengers before the arrival of security forces.

    ALSO READ: Everything We Know About the Terrorist Attack on Kaduna Airport

    What’s the government doing?

    The Kaduna State government announced around 11 p.m. that passengers had been secured and were being evacuated from the scene. The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, noted in his report that injured passengers were being rushed to the hospital.

    Aruwan said in another statement on March 29th 2022 that the evacuation of all passengers had been completed. The commissioner admitted that there were fatalities but he didn’t reveal details of how many people have been confirmed dead from the attack.

    The government is also taking financial responsibility for the medical treatment of those injured in the attack.

    The Kaduna State government is coordinating with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to determine how many passengers are missing. 

    How Nigerians are helping victims

    Dozens of injured victims of the Kaduna train attack are receiving medical treatment at various hospitals. Some of them urgently need blood, and there’s an ongoing campaign urging people to donate blood for them.

    https://twitter.com/BubbaSadiq/status/1508773609711583235?s=20&t=RbzvUMabaDxVJyBGgoc5jg

    NRC suspends service

    The NRC has suspended operations along the Abuja-Kaduna route:

    https://twitter.com/Official_NRC/status/1508685796051718146?s=20&t=4Jn4tPEjMLymPFns8W97fA

    The exact number of people killed or kidnapped is still unknown.

    It’s the second Kaduna train attack in five months

    This is not the first terrorist attack on trains along the Abuja-Kaduna corridor. Terrorists similarly bombed rail tracks in October 2021 and shot at passengers while the train travelled between Dutse and Rijana. There were no casualties.

    The latest attack continues a trend of violence and bloodshed that has lasted for a few years in Kaduna State. Government records show that terrorists killed 1,192 people in dozens of attacks in 2021. They also kidnapped 3,348 people for ransom.

    Many of the attacks have been happening in rural areas and on highways, but the terrorists have started targeting infrastructure like the airport and railway. The latest trend of attacks is adding an extra layer of worry for Nigerians who have to travel around the country as the government struggles to contain escalating insecurity. 

    Who’s responsible for the train attack?

    Terrorists operating in Kaduna State, and the northwestern region, don’t have a distinct identity like, say, Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) terrorising the northeastern region. The terrorists are different armed groups who are mostly still referred to as “bandits” because of the lack of ideological angle to their terror activities.

    The terrorists typically kidnap people for ransom by directly contacting the families of their victims. The Kaduna State government notably stays out of ransom transactions. The state’s governor, Nasir El-Rufai, believes paying terrorists enriches them, and has called on the Federal Government to bomb the forests where the terrorists hide with their hostages.

    ALSO READ: How Buhari Has Freed 1,629 “Repentant” Terrorists

    Samson Toromade

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