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The minister said these included families traumatised over their members still in captivity of terrorists and the need to have surveillance facilities to monitor the tracks.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Nigerian government has admitted that it will be insensitive to the plight of families whose loved ones are still in captivity to restart the Abuja-Kaduna train services now.
The Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, said this Wednesday while fielding questions from State House reporters at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said two core matters remained at the heart of the delay in the resumption of Abuja-Kaduna train services suspended after the March 2022 attack.
The minister said these included families traumatised over their members still in captivity of terrorists and the need to have surveillance facilities to monitor the tracks.
He said government was looking at the best options in terms of the surveillance including concessioning it in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Asked about definite time lines to execute the initiative, Sambo said: “If I give a timeline, I’ll be lying to you. It will be insensitive to restart the service if some families weep day and night over their members still in the bush.”
The minister said government was mindful of cost involved but should be able to report definite progress in about a month.
He announced that FEC approved a contract for the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) worth about N1.49 billion for the repair of cranes.
SaharaReporters had in July reported how family members of the abducted passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train besieged the entrance of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Abuja, demanding government’s intervention in the release of the victims.
The protesters had carried placards with different inscriptions including hashtag “#FreeKadunaTrainAttackVictims.” Some of the inscriptions read, “Mr. President please help us,” “President Buhari Pls help us,” “We hardly sleep with our two eyes closed,” “The victims are dying in captivity,” “Our blood pressure keeps on rising every day,” amongst others, demanding an urgent intervention from the Nigerian government.
Despite an early morning rain in the area, the protesters, made up of old men and women and youths vowed never to leave the ministry until they got assurances from the ministry or the government met their demands.
Speaking with BBC Pidgin, one of the protesters who simply identified himself as Aruwa, had said, “I came here because of my sister who was inside that train that left Abuja for Kaduna. We are here at the Ministry of Transport because they are the ones in charge of everything.
“My sister was coming back from a wedding ceremony when they kidnapped from that train and took them into the bush and since the time they were kidnapped, the only thing we see yesterday is that they (the kidnappers) are threatening to kill them That is why we all gathered here to tell the ministry of transport so that they can tell the President to help us release these people.
“It has been very difficult for me. My sister is a mother of five and how we have been going with the children, only God is helping us. It is like a nightmare for us. We no longer sleep. Even to eat is difficult for us.
“We heard that some people contributed money to go and pay the kidnappers to release them but the security people stopped them from going.”
