Nigeria: gunmen attack a passenger train in the northwest of the country
A passenger train in Nigeria.
(Illustrative image) STRINGER / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The attack, which took place this Monday, March 28, 2022, on a line connecting Abuja to Kaduna, was repelled by the army.
This is the latest action attributed to "bandits", the name given to these violent gangs that rage in the north-west and central Nigeria.
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It was around 9 p.m.
when gunmen
attacked a passenger train with 970 passengers on board.
The attackers used explosives on the rails before opening fire.
Soldiers were quickly sent to the scene and were able to repel the attack.
Yahaya Sarkin Fawa was on board: “
I had fallen asleep when there was a very loud explosion noise.
Before we had time to understand what was going on, we heard gunshots in all directions.
We immediately lay down on the ground.
Within an hour, the army came and chased the bandits away, but they kidnapped a lot of people, including a friend of mine with his wife, a very popular politician in Kaduna
.
»
This Tuesday morning, March 29, the local authorities claim that this attack caused injuries and deaths, without specifying the number.
This is also what this other witness, Faruk Isa Abubakar Argungu, says: “
People were injured, others killed and still others abducted.
They took almost everyone from wagon 17. They also took my friend and his pregnant wife.
I would say seven people died.
Then the army rescued us, and I went home around four in the morning.
»
Already on Saturday, heavily armed men carried out an attack
on Kaduna airport
.
A guard was killed, air traffic temporarily halted.
This time too, the bandits were driven back by the army.
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