A young medical doctor, was among those killed when bandits bombed a Abuja-Kaduna passenger train on Monday night.
At least seven people were killed, many injured, and others missing after a 970-passenger train was attacked by the terrorists.
Sources said the terrorists planted explosives on the rail tracks and bombed the train just before Rijana, a community along the rail line in Kaduna notorious for kidnapping and other security breaches.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said in a statement on Tuesday it had temporarily suspended services on the Abuja-Kaduna route following the attack, which took place some 30 minutes from Kaduna.
Two NRC workers and five security personnel were killed when gunmen opened fire on the train, a passenger and member of Kaduna’s security service told Reuters.
Also among those killed was Chinelo, a medical doctor who tweeted around 9.43pm that she had been shot, asking Nigerians to pray for her.
By morning, news spread that she had died.
“Dr. Chinelo was making an honest living, she was working at St Gerald’s hospital in Kaduna, she wanted more for herself and processed her papers to leave this hell-hole. She resigned last month to leave the country this Friday then this happened. Nigeria why???” she wrote.
Many Nigerians have since been left shocked by the incident, expressing concern that the country is no longer safe for its citizens.
Meanwhile, most of the more than 900 passengers were taken from the scene of the attack on buses to Kaduna as deployed security forces kept watch on the train, relatives of the passengers said.
It wasn’t, however, the first time bandits would attack a passenger along the Kaduna-Abuja corridor.
The terrorists on 21 October 2021 attacked a Kaduna-Abuja train with explosives.
The attack, which took place between 21-22 October, left passengers traumatised, with reports that the attackers also fired live rounds into driver compartments.
Shehu Sani, a former Kaduna Central Senator, who was among the passengers on the train, said a portion of the tracks was damaged by explosives, adding that he narrowly escaped death.
