Many feared kidnapped after Abuja-Kaduna train attack

By  Derrick Bangura – Following the attack on the Kaduna-Abuja train, about 200 passengers are reportedly kidnapped by the terrorists.

ACCESSSNEWS had earlier reported how some terrorists had on Monday detonated an explosive on the Kaduna-bound train with about 920 passengers onboard.

According to a report by ThisDay, about 200 passengers were kidnapped by the bandits.

One of the eye-witnesses, who had been hauled into one of the small buses brought by the criminals and later escaped.

The eye-witness, who said he could recognise all of them if brought for identification, emphasised the fact that they were not only organised but had a rich network of contacts that made their operations and coordination smooth.

While confirming that they took with them many of the passengers, the number of which he could not verify, he said they targeted VIP coach upon demobilising the train, where he was seated too, and started first by shooting the security men onboard the train.

He noted that there were many security men on the train, who obviously were not on the manifest, because they were not added, stressing further that at least, about six of them might have been killed in the operation, aside the eight passengers, who were not so lucky.

Unfortunately, while the development had sounded the alarm bell across the country and exposing the growing insecurity, Monday’s attack was not the first time that the Kajuru station came under threat by terrorists, who had wanted to make an incursion into that sector of the economy.

They Were Small Boys, Not Nigerians, Who Kept Shouting Allahuhakubar, Survivors Recount Ordeal

However, some of the other survivors of the train attack, have also begun to share their own ordeal too in the hands of their attackers, saying those who attacked them seemed more like non-Nigerians and ‘small boys’ between the ages of 18 and 20, who shouted Allahuhakubar repeatedly as they rained bullets on the train.

Three of the the survivors at the St. Gerald Catholic hospital, however, described their ordeal as horrible.

One of the survivors, Maimuna Ibrahim, who was shot on the thigh, said it was a horrible experience.

“We saw hell. I prayed and prayed and prayed,” she said, adding, “I went to a workshop in Abuja in the morning and I was on my way back to Kaduna that same day after the workshop. I was shot on the thigh. But the bullet did not touch my bone. The bullet penetrated out of my thigh.

“Honestly, we suffered seriously, but thank God soldiers came and they really helped us”, she said, adding that, she was unable to walk after she was shot and soldiers had to carry her out of the train to a vehicle by the expressway.

“I was unable to walk, it was the soldiers, who carried me on the back to the vehicle that brought us to the hospital. They were able to pass over the cliff, carrying us on their backs. Seriously, they tried, because it was not easy climbing the cliff,” she said.

According to her, “The terrorists were moving about in the train, but they did not come to where I was seated. I was hit by the bullet through the window. They entered SP17. As they were shooting, the police security on the train asked us to lie down on the floor of the train so that the bullet will not get at us.

“Unfortunately before I could lie down, the bullet hit me. I saw the terrorists from the window. They were many, they were small boys of between the ages of 18 and 20. They appeared like Fulani. They wore turbans. They don’t look like Nigerians. They were shouting Allahakubar.

“They abducted some people. I saw them forcing people out of the train. They were beating them as they were taking them out of the train.

They were shouting Allahuhakubar, Allahuhakubar as the shot sporadically,” she said.

Speaking too from her hospital bed, another survivor, Fatima Shuaibu, a student of College of Education, Gidan Waya, Kaduna State, said her sister was killed in the attack. She was being treated for dislocation on her right leg.

“My sister, Zainab Awal, was shot on the stomach and she died,” she said amid tears.

Shuaibu said she was seated by the window when she started noticing flashes of touch lights.

Initially, she thought it was the villagers around the area, but when she suddenly heard a loud explosion and the train went off track, she knew there was trouble as her heart started palpitating.

She said, “I was seated by the window in the train. Suddenly, I started seeing flashes of touch light, this was around 8pm. Then, there was a loud bang as if something exploded. Then the train went off track as if was falling down. We started shouting and praying.

“As soon as the train stopped, we started hearing gunshots. The security personnel on the train announced that everybody should lie down on the floor of the train. They attacked the VIP coach, they abducted some people and took them to the bush, they shot other people. They operated for about two hours or so before soldiers and Airforce arrived and they exchanged gunshots.

“The terrorists came with five Sharon buses and motorcycles. Those who were abducted were taken away in the Sharon buses. The terrorists were small boys of between 18 to 20 years. I saw them, they don’t look like Nigerians.

“The soldiers rescued us in the train. Those of us who were injured were evacuated from the train. They climbed the cliff with us and took us to the expressway, where vehicles were brought to carry people.

On his part, also from his hospital bed at St. Gerald, Mohammed Isa, who was shot on his right arm, said the whole episode was like a dream.

“I was seated by the window and they shot me on the right arm. There was an explosion and the train lost control and went off track.

“All of a sudden, they started shooting at the train from afar, then, they started coming closer. When they got to the train, they attempted to force the door open, but they couldn’t. So they shot at the door and it opened.

“They were speaking Hausa. It took quite some time before soldiers came and they exchanged fire with them,” he said, corroborating the accounts of others.

Yusuf Idris, ex- spokesman to Zamfara State’s former deputy governor, said Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala was shot in the leg and was currently receiving treatment in a medical facility in Kaduna.

“He is responding to treatment very well. He is answering phone calls in his bed. I spoke to him and several other people spoke to him also. There is no cause for alarm,” Yusuf said.

At the Army, hospital, journalists were prevented from seeing the victims.