A statement posted on Facebook by Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna State Commissioner for Homeland Security and Home Affairs, and signed by Muyiwa Adekeye, the governor’s special adviser, described the incident as a terrorist attack. Usman told CNN on Thursday that the train was hit by two explosions before gunmen opened fire on trapped passengers. “About 25 minutes before the end of the trip, the first explosion took place. It was dark and the train’s electrical system went out … All we could see were explosion lights (fireworks). The train was moving even after 30 seconds. “There was a second explosion that derailed the train. The next thing we heard was sporadic gunfire … gunfire everywhere, through the windows,” Usman said. After bombing the lines, gunmen surrounded the carriages and opened fire, Usman said. At least 26 people were injured in the attack, according to Adekeye. An unknown number of passengers were abducted from the train, Nigerian state media NAN reported. The military and other security services are conducting search and rescue operations to retrieve the abducted passengers, according to the NAN. This is the second time a train has been attacked along the Abuja-Kaduna railway line in the last six months. Chinelo Megafu, a dental surgeon, was among eight people killed Monday, her father confirmed to CNN. Usman told CNN that Megafu said she was shot when she and other passengers ran to the train station. “People ran from other coaches on the bus I was on. I think she (Megafu) was among them. When she came in, she hid next to me. And then I heard her say she was shot. I asked her how she knew she had been shot, and she said she could feel it I asked her to touch the spot where she felt the pain and she said she could feel a little wet there … In this situation, I could do nothing but give her hope that we would be saved. “Someone gave her water hoping it would rejuvenate her as I took off my seat cover and took her out with a fan. From her breath, I could see that life was gradually coming out of her. After about an hour [and] “After 30 minutes, the rescue team came in and started evacuating,” said Usman.
“A beautiful future”
Megafu graduated from Port Harcourt University School of Dentistry in southern Nigeria in 2016, a school official told CNN on Thursday. “She was very bright and had a bright future,” Modupeoluwa Soroye, one of her lecturers, told CNN. “We are still in shock, the dental school is in mourning.” “She was one of us and so young,” Soroye added. A friend of Megafu’s family told CNN on Thursday that he was leaving Nigeria for Canada this weekend. “Since that day (Monday) the incident happened, she would be in Canada in five days to start her graduate program,” said Dapo Akintunde, a friend of Megafu’s father. Ifeanyi Megafu, the dentist’s father, told CNN on Friday: “I’m in a lot of issues right now, including [the] funeral … I’m trying to see how I can transport my daughter from Cantona. “ Her death has been described by the Nigerian Medical Association as “tragic, horrific and preventable”. Nigerians have mourned Megafu’s death, with many expressing outrage at the country’s deteriorating security. One of Megafu’s friends, Dr. Olusina Ajidahun told CNN: “It is unfortunate that insecurity has taken its toll on her. Her death is truly moving. Nigeria has failed Chinelo. Nigeria has failed to protect it.” The Cantona government has not identified the gunmen who carried out the attack. In recent years, ransom kidnapping has become a persistent problem throughout Nigeria. Days before the train attack, raiding gangs known in the area as “robbers” shot and killed an airport guard as they roamed the perimeter fence of Kaduna Airport, the Nigeria Airspace Management Authority told local media. This was followed by a series of road attacks and kidnappings committed by notorious gangs in the troubled northwestern state. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said he was “deeply saddened” by Monday’s attack, calling it “powerless” and ordering the country’s army to “deal ruthlessly” with terrorists. The Nigerian Railway Corporation announced on Tuesday the temporary closure of the Abuja-Kaduna line after the train ambush. Nigeria’s Transport Minister Chibuike Amaechi said on Wednesday that train services would resume “with air safety by the Air Force” when the damaged railway line is repaired. It is not clear when the train will resume. The train attack comes amid a flurry of problems plaguing Nigeria as locals face persistent fuel and electricity shortages. The long-term rarity has exacerbated the difficulties for citizens already plagued by inflation and rising food prices, as scarce petroleum products are sold at twice or almost three times the price on the anarchic black market.
