The Federal Government has hinted that it might not be recommencing train services on the Abuja-Kaduna route anytime soon as it will be insensitive to the plight of families that their loved ones are still in captivity to do so.
This is coming a few weeks after the government disclosed that it can only fully resume operations on the Abuja-Kaduna train route when it has installed the appropriate surveillance technology for security purposes.
This was made known by the Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, during a chat with State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he stated the Federal Government cannot recommence train services on that route yet.
Sambo while answering questions on the suspension of the train operations on the Abuja-Kaduna route following the March 2022 terrorist attack, noted that the government is still trying to determine the right type of surveillance equipment to procure in order to effectively monitor the tracks along the route.
The minister also noted that the government is looking at concessioning that route under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Sambo who recognized the likely huge cost that will be involved in the project, gave one month within which it will report back progress made in this respect.
What you should know
- Recall that on March 28, some terrorists attacked an Abuja-Kaduna train with many passengers on board.
- The attack which occurred a few kilometres to Kaduna metropolis had about 8 people killed, with dozens injured and some others kidnapped by the bandits. Onboard the train, were 362 passengers and 20 crew members.
- The immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has in an apparent expression of frustration, explained that the terror attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train could have been prevented if the N3 billion digital security equipment they had been pushing for had been acquired
