Six Edo Train Passengers Rescued

Six of the passengers abducted from the Igueben train station in Edo State have been rescued, with others held in different locations.

Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, gave an update on Channels.

He said the operational cost of running rail in Nigeria was frustrating due to security threats and the cost of diesel.

According to him, recent attacks on rail infrastructure have attracted about 100 proposals from some rail security experts who are only after enriching themselves.

Giving an update on the efforts made by security agents since the attack on Saturday, he said: “Six of the victims that were held in captivity were rescued and they (security) are still in pursuit of the bandits.

“They are moving from place to place but the security agents are trying to see how fast they can meet up with them and get the other victims released.

“From the information I have, I think they divided those that were kidnapped and took them to different locations

“That is what we are suspecting because they caught one of the attackers and he was able to lead them (the security team) to somewhere where they got six of them released.

“We must also know that it is a security issue, so we must be careful about what we say”

On whether to be optimistic about the rescue of those kidnapped, Okhiria said: “We hope so with the intensity that the security and the community have deployed to ensure that we are not embarrassed, I think something good will happen very soon. We hope so.

“Some people have been out there since Saturday and they are still there.”

On what led to the recent attack considering the security measures put in place to ensure train security, he said: “Nothing went wrong.

“As I said, you plan but there are people who are trying to sabotage the effort.

“At this point, we have not gotten to the peak of the security architecture we want to have in our stations although it is out of the ordinary.

“We don’t have such in other climes in railway operation; a situation in Nigeria where a rail operator has to become a security expert should not be the case.”

Scores of passengers waiting to board a train from Igueben in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State to Warri in Delta State were kidnapped on Saturday night