Excitement galore as passengers board Abuja-Kaduna Train after 8 months
Excited travellers were seen boarding the Abuja-Kaduna train on Monday as it resumes operation eight months after it was suspended due to a terrorist attack.
Recalled that gunmen with explosives on March 28 blew up the tracks killing eight people, wounding 26, and kidnapped an unspecified number of hostages.
Subsequently, the hostages were released in batches following negotiations with their captors who were believed to have collected huge ransoms from their families.
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An AFP reporter at the railway station in Abuja on Monday said the train departed the nation’s capital at around 10:00 am (0900 GMT) for the two-hour journey to Kaduna with few passengers that were only occupying one-third of the train’s capacity but were very excited that the service was back after eight months.
Some of the passengers that spoke with the reporter expressed worries about security, “I was just waiting for the commencement of this train service again, so I was so happy to be here today,” said passenger Ganiyat Adesina, a 50-year-old university professor.
She said she had arrived early at the station to beat the gridlock on the road. “Just like 30 minutes after my arrival, we saw a team of military men with two armoured tanks and other vehicles, about five of them parading all these places,” she added.
“This is what I’m actually expecting the federal government to do, moving between Abuja and Kaduna had been very stressful for people, and for myself, I have to even stop going to Kaduna for the last eight months.
