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PAGE 10 SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 27, 2022
No sign of security
in this train
…wary Abuja residents say as govt
plans to resume FCT-Kaduna service
•FG loses over N5bn on halted operations
By Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja
he Federal Government has
Tannounced that the Abuja-Kaduna train
services will resume soon.
Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo,
announced this while giving the scorecard of
his ministry in Abuja
This announcement is coming eight months
after terrorists bombed the Kaduna-Abuja
train corridor and kidnapped scores of
passengers leading to the suspension of
services.
Recall that terrorists attacked the Abuja-
Kaduna train on March 28, 2022, kidnapping
168 passengers and killing eight others.
However, the release of the victims had been
in batches since then, with the last 23 released
in October.
Sambo’s words: “We shall resume that
service this month. I told you we would only
resume service after all the kidnapped
passengers might have been released. By the
grace of God and through the instrumentality
of our security agencies under the leadership
The senatorial candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta North
and legal consultant, Prince Ned
Nwoko, has, lately, been at loggerheads with
the Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State
over the latter’s power game with the
presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar, vice-presidential candidate,
Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, national chair,
Senator Iyorchua Ayu, and the leadership of
the party. Both Wike and Nwoko have publicly
dragged themselves, but, last weekend, at his
country home in Idumuje-Ugboko, Aniocha
North local government area, where he hosted
some senior journalists, the politician, who
fielded questions on his senatorial bid and other
issues, shed light on why he is livid at Wike,
insisting that the party should clip his wings.
What is your fight with Wike all about? Is it
because he is not supporting Atiku and Okowa
in their bid for the presidency?
People think it is because of Okowa, but I
have never discussed Wike with Okowa. I would
not, why should I? I am a man of my own; I
have my mind about anything. I am a PDP
member and stakeholder and if somebody else
is a nuisance to the party, are you saying that I
cannot talk about it because of Okowa? I am
my person and a stakeholder in PDP and want
my party to win the elections in every state, if
possible, and produce the next President. I see
somebody trying to pull the house down and
people expect me to keep quiet because I am
from the same place as Okowa? No! I am
fighting for Nigerians, who are also in PDP,
of President Muhammadu Buhari, that has
been successfully done and we are going to
resume operation on the Kaduna-Abuja rail
route before the end of November 2022”.
Meanwhile, checks by Sunday Vanguard
show that for the past 229 days since the train
service was suspended, Nigeria Railway
Corporation, NRC, has lost about N5.49 billion
revenue which could have been raked from
ticket sales.
From investigation, the coaches plying the
Abuja-Kaduna route have the capacity to carry
between 900 and 1,000 passengers per trip.
Before the suspension of the service, an average
economy ticket sold for N2,800 – N3,000, while
VIP tickets went for N6,000/seat.
A breakdown of daily ticket sales by
Saturday Vanguard shows that the NRC
makes a minimum of N3m per trip at N3,000
a ticket for a train that has the capacity to
carry 900 to 1,000 passengers.
Consequently, for the eight trips operated
daily, the NRC would have earned about N24m,
while for the 229 days, the corporation would
have garnered about N5.49bn
and feel that Wike is taking his fight too far,
even though he may air his views. You must
have seen a video where he said, tufia kwa in
Igbo language (meaning abomination), I
would never be a vice president. Later on, when
he lost the presidential ticket, he lobbied for
the vice presidential ticket and it became a door-die
thing for him. If Wike had been chosen
as the vice-presidential candidate, would he
be asking the National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia
Ayu, to resign? No, he would be licking his ass
by now. He is not fighting for the South; Wike
is fighting for himself and the few people who
are around him. They are trying to destroy a
party in which I am a stakeholder and I should
not keep quiet. He thinks he is a bigger
stakeholder, but he is not; every stakeholder in
PDP is important, and he is hurting all of us.
He has to stop it; he cannot be junketing all
over the world displaying anti-party activities.
What has he not done to hurt the party? Wike is
out of his wits! There are ways of handling
these people, and others will sit up. He is not
untouchable; he is like a bull in the China
shop, and when having such a situation, you
remove the bull from the shop. I am in that
shop myself that he is trying to destroy, and
that is why I am not keeping quiet. That is an
insult.
You alleged that Wike squandered Rivers’s
share of the Paris Club refunds, but has the
court found him guilty of any such offense?
You do not need to wait for the court to know
that somebody squandered money; I spoke
about it because I am directly involved. I know
how much went to the Rivers State government
and the local governments in Rivers State. I
have also spoken to some people there to know
that Wike did not use that money for the people
of Rivers State. If he did, I can tell you that
Abuja residents react
Mixed reactions by Abuja residents have,
meanwhile, trailed the announcement of
resumption of Abuja-Kaduna train services,
particularly from individuals and families who
were victims or had relatives that were victims
of the March 2022 train attack.
Our correspondent observed that the attack
left a big scar on many citizens, including
making trust for government to wane.
Also worrisome is the reality that many
Nigerians have lately become lethargic,
unwilling to take movements at public places
as a result of the jitters which came on the
heels of the recent terror alerts issued by the
United States, US, and the United Kingdom
(UK) among other countries in Abuja.
Many Abuja residents, who spoke with
Sunday Vanguard, disagreed with the Federal
Government on the resumption of Abuja-
Kaduna train operations with reasons that,
from their checks, government is not acting
differently from the way it handled security
which, in the first place, took many lives and
left others with scarred hearts.
A civil servant, who preferred anonymity,
expressed concerns over the safety of train
passengers, asking if government had drawn
out feasible modalities to beef up security and
ensure lives and properties are protected.
“Well, what the Federal Government has
announced is good news. But, there are so many
things aside announcing that the Abuja-
Kaduna train will begin operations very soon”,
he said.
“The big question is, have they drawn out
modalities, have they structured out measures,
for which they can use in ensuring that the
security architecture around that Abuja
Kaduna train route is completely secured and
that train passengers will not be attacked just
the same way we have had it before? The big
question is, has government done what is
needed in terms of strengthening security of
our train and its passengers?”
A business man, Adamu Salihu, who resides
in Jabi, Abuja, on his part, said the resumption
of train operations is a welcomed development,
advising the Federal Government on strict
security measures to be put in place to avert
any future attack by terrorists.
“When you check this train transportation,
people are so cynical to board trains from any
location to the other simply because of what
happened. I’m talking about insecurity. But,
with this new development, I think government
must have taken proactive measures that will
help fight against insecurity”, Salihu said.
Also speaking, Amarachi Eze, a teacher,
suggested that the Federal Government should
double the security personnel responsible for
securing areas covered by the train.
He further advised government not to treat,
with kid gloves the security alerts issued by the
US among others, adding that the lives of
citizens should be topmost priority.
“I think government should give more time
before reopening the train service. This is
because commuters will still be
psychologically traumatized, not just those
who were directly involved”, Eze stated.
“As an Abuja resident, I commend what our
troops are doing. They’ve recorded pockets of
Wike is a bull in a China shop, hurting
everyone in PDP — Ned Nwoko
• Says Ibori will support Oborevwori
• ‘Edevbie is reasonable, will withdraw court action’
By Emma Amaize,
Regional Editor, South-South
every hospital in Rivers
would have been very
well- equipped and
had a constant
power supply
and those
innocent
children
would not
have died
i n
•Nwoko
hospital
because
of the
absence of power supply.
Is every hospital in Delta State that
also received the same funds well
equipped?
I am talking about Rivers State, there have
been no such deaths in Delta because of lack
of power supply. I am talking about a governor
who is pretending to have done excellently well
in Rivers, calling people to come and
commission projects.
You were in the House of Representatives
between 1999 and 2003. What are you
looking for in the Senate?
I was in the House of Representatives from
1999 to 2003, shortly after my return from
England. I did my best, sponsoring 23 Bills. I
knew that being in government meant serving
the people and I knew what I wanted to do
then, like the dualization of the Asaba-Benin
expressway, bringing the Nigerian Television
Authority (NTA) and National Industrial Court
of Nigeria to Asaba, all of which were nonexistent
before, and which I did.
There were too many members in the
successes here and there, even though there
are still security threats lingering in the capital
territory. However, I wouldn’t suggest that
caution be thrown to the wind.
“Government should look into recruiting
and training more security agents because the
current number is not enough to combat the
terrorists roaming our nation. If we cannot be
assured of safety within the territory, then there’s
absolutely no guarantee on the trains plying
the Abuja to Kaduna route”.
Usman Danladi, a trader, who differed on
how government should beef up security, said:
“Beefing up security on the train route is not
only about posting security operatives
everywhere even though that’s a part of it, but
there are other salient but equally important
ways of beefing up security on the train route
which I am sure government should be possibly
exploiting to ensure that such an incident does
not repeat itself.”
CSOs react
Decrying the spate of terrorist activities in
Abuja which have aggravated fears, the
National President, Coalition of Nigeria
Youths, Dotun Hassan, said even though the
commencement of rail operations seems
progressive, government must consider
unforeseen threats to avert any eventualities.
Hassan said: “Regrettably, we seem to be a
fearless nation despite the terror alerts but it
must be clear that the announcement and
resumption of the Abuja-Kaduna train services
is expected to automatically bring about reliefs,
but, regrettably, the shock of the last terrorist
attacks on commuters leaves many to feel some
hypertensive bubbles and strokes of heartaches.
“Hence, it is pertinent to call for concerted
efforts by our security agencies to clear that
rail pathway of any unforeseen attacks or a
repeat of the kidnapping, because one will
reason deeply to know how monies were raised
in billions to rescue family members, while
victims were flogged and treated like animals
by the terrorists.
“Right information management and
intelligence sharing must be ensured, while
local security around that corridor must, at all
time, comb the towns hosting the train stations
and pathway at intervals, with adequate
inconvenience allowance paid to motivate the
security personnel putting their lives in the line
of duty”.
Similarly, Executive Director, One Nigeria,
Comrade Obinna Nduka, said: “Is it about
announcing the commencement of the Abuja-
Kaduna train operations? No! Real time
security measures must be taken. The lives of
Nigerians should not be taken for granted
because of revenue generation.
“Nigerians have not really seen the measures
already taken to beef up security. At least we
should be seeing moves but we aren’t. This is a
call to government to do the needful. For now,
there is fear of even boarding a train.
Government was supposed to come up, assure
Nigerians before even coming to announce
the commencement of the train.
“Well, as Nigerians let’s all trust that
government has done its bid on ensuring
security. I also want to pray that such calamity
will not fall on Nigeria again.”
House; how do you handle about 360
members?
It was difficult. For example, the Bill on the
Sports University was Number 18 in my Bills,
but then most members did not see it as a
priority or anything important. That is why I
told you I have learned, and now know how to
get what I want for the people. When I began
the Paris/London Club refund case, many
people told me it would not work, asking how
could I take the British or French or American
governments to court? However, I told them I
am a British- trained lawyer and, having
practiced there, I knew what to do and that
they should just give me the instruction to go
ahead. Therefore, I am not afraid of trying the
impossibilities or what people consider
impossible. A good politician lobbies for
things, so I am surprised when I hear
lawmakers say they are only there to
make laws for good governance
because that is just part of the
responsibility of a lawmaker. I am
not just going to the National
Assembly to sit in chamber and make
laws; yes, I am capable and
comfortable doing that, but there are
many things that we need, as Anioma
people, and hopefully, I would
address them properly now that I
know a lot more on how to go about doing
things.
Do you think that PDP and Okowa have
done enough for Delta North district to make
the people vote for you?
Within the available resources, Okowa, and
indeed PDP, have done well in the state.
The way you talk, are you sure of beating
incumbent Senator Peter Nwaoboshi of APC
in the election?
Oh sure, go around Anioma and find out if it
would be difficult for me to beat him. I am a
man of the people; when you were coming
here, did anybody stop you on the way? I am
open to the people and they know what I am
doing to assist them already.
Since I left the House in 2003, I have
contested no office or held any political
appointment, so whatever you see here, read,
or hear about Ned - the Sports University, the
malaria project, the tourism project, and others
are my efforts. What has Nwaoboshi done
outside politics?