KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Suspected bandits attacked a passenger train headed to the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna from Abuja, the capital, on Monday evening after they trapped the train, the Kaduna state government said.
One passenger, Anas Iro Danmusa, posted on Facebook that bandits planted explosives which halted the train. He said bandits were trying to force themselves inside the train and gun shots were being fired outside the train.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and no casualties have been confirmed.
“The military has secured the Kaduna-bound train from Abuja trapped by terrorists,” a spokesperson for Kaduna state government said. “Efforts are ongoing to convey the passengers from the location and others that sustained injuries have been rushed to hospitals for urgent medical attention.”
It is the second train attack since October in Nigeria, which faces an Islamist insurgency and armed bandits that have kidnapped hundreds of students, travellers and villagers for ransom, leaving the population terrified.
Some people have opted to travel by rail after several kidnappings by armed bandits on Nigerian highways, especially in the northwest of the country.
The train was stopped about 25 kilometres to Kaduna when the attacked happened, an official of the Nigerian Railways Corp (NRC) said, adding that a family relative was also trapped on the Kaduna-bound service.
(Reporting by Garba Muhammad in Kaduna, Camillus Eboh and Afolabi Sotunde in Abuja; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Leslie Adler)
