Politicians and VIPs resort to using Kaduna-Abuja railway service to escape highway robbers

NIGERIAN politicians and dignitaries have stepped up their use of the Abuja-Kaduna Railway Express over recent weeks as it has proven to be the safest way of travel due to increased banditry and armed robbery along motorways.

Opened last year, the Abuja to Kaduna railway line is the first standard gauge network in Nigeria built to replace the narrow gauge line constructed by the British during the colonial era. In Abuja, the Kubwa train station which serves as the terminal for the service, is now a thriving facility, packed with thousands of commuters who hitherto used to travel by road to Kaduna.

Prominent Nigerians, including senators, serving senior military officers and other politicians now use the train service for fear of being abducted by the notorious kidnappers operating along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway. Now, a serious crisis, the spate of insecurity on the road prompted the acting inspector-general of police, Mohammed Adamu, to inaugurate Operation Puff Adder, to address the challenge which was becoming embarrassing to the government.

Yesterday for instance, the Kubwa train terminal observed a large number of travellers jostling for tickets sold at N1,300 after queuing for about two hours. They were eventually able to obtain the tickets that would enable them to stand for the two hours trip as all the available seats had been filled up.

Daily, the trains run four round trips daily but with the increase in usage, the authorities may have to put more services on the track. Do to the over-usage witnessed yesterday, four coaches, each with a capacity to sit 88 passengers were packed, making the trip very uncomfortable for those who had to stand.

One station guard said: “We have been seeing top people we have never seen before taking the trains to Kaduna because of the activities of kidnappers and other criminals on the road. A senator was here yesterday but he could not get a seat on the coach and his aide approached me for assistance, so, I spoke to one of the policemen stationed on the train to give him his seat with the understanding that the senator would give the police officer N1,000 when they got to Kaduna, but the man didn’t give him the money.

“The policeman complained to me and I was so angry but I had to pay him from my pocket and I have decided not to assist anyone to get a seat on the train anymore. Anyone who failed to get a seat should stand.”

Some passengers decried the failure of the security agencies to curb the activities of the hoodlums terrorising commuters on Kaduna road, alleging that it might be a deliberate move by the government to force the people to use the trains. Others asked why they could not buy tickets online.