Again, Terrorists Strike in Zaria as El-Rufai Insists There’s Enough Intelligence to Prevent Attacks

•Says DSS has informants everywhere, monitoring plans of criminal elements

•Hints security agencies have their phone numbers and listen in on their conversations

•Queries why security agencies don’t attack them first

•Declares he’s angry, frustrated and feels totally helpless

•Amaechi visits victims at army hospital, says Airforce may return to escorting trains

Chuks Okocha, Olawale Ajimotokan, Kingsley Nwezeh, Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Udora Orizu in Abuja, Emma Okonji, Nosa Alekhuogie in Lagos, John Shiklam and Kasim Sumaina in Kaduna

Another forty-eight hours after bombing an Abuja-Kaduna train, killing, maiming and kidnapping passengers onboard, some daredevil terrorists, again, invaded a low cost housing estate in Zaria city, Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State, yesterday, inflicting damage on residents and everything on sight, after allegedly kidnapping some people.

This is as the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, seething with anger, frustration and evident helplessness, yesterday, said with the amount of information and intelligence in the hands of the nation’s security agencies, they had all it would take to prevent attacks by terrorists and other criminal elements in the country.

El-Rufai, who  claimed that the Department of Security Services (DSS), had informants everywhere, who were on top of their game, monitoring plans and communications of criminals, said he was angry, frustrated and felt totally helpless with the current turn of events.

But the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who visited some of the victims at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, has disclosed that the government might resort to using the Airforce to escort the trains, pending when the approval for the security detection devices pulled through.

 In an equal stroke, an opposition figure, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday, offered suggestions to the federal government on how to tame the increasing insecurity in the country, stating that there were five things that must be done urgently if the government intended to stamp out insecurity from the country.

However, although details about last night’s attacks were still scanty when filing this report, a source in the area confirmed there was a strike by terrorists.

Notwithstanding the sketchy details, an unspecified number of people, including a custom officer and his son, were allegedly abducted during the new raid

One of the sources, who confirmed the development, said the terrorists invaded the community at about 10pm yesterday, even though he could not give details of what happened.

“Yes, there was heavy attack in Low Cost area at about 10pm. I cannot say whether some people were abducted or not because I have no such details now. I will give you the details tomorrow,” he said.

According to THISDAY’s findings, the criminals, who were in large numbers, stormed the area and started shooting sporadically, before making away with some people, believed to have included the customs officer and his son.

When contacted, Spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mohammed Jalige, said, he was not aware of the incident as he was yet to receive any report on the development.

“I cannot confirm it because I have not received any report on the incident, but I will contact our men in the area and find out,” he said.

But El-Rufai, who spoke, when Amaechi paid a courtesy visit to his office shortly after visiting victims of the Monday night train attack by terrorists, declared that the state was currently in a war zone and asked the security agencies to take adequate action to mitigate terrorism and banditry ravaging the once peaceful state.

“We have enough intelligence for us to take action. We have enough. The Air force undertakes enough ISR, the SSS has informants all over the place. We know what they are planning, we get the reports; the problem is for the agencies to take action.

“They don’t have to wait until they attack before they respond. The Army should go after their enclave and wipe them off. Let the Air force bomb them,” he said, speaking to the press.

Continuing, the outspoken governor explained that, “Before, they were categorised as bandits if you bombed them, you will have issues with human rights organisations and international criminal courts and so on.

But now that they have been declared terrorists by the court, they can be legally killed without any consequences to international human rights organisations.

“We know where their camps are, we know where they are, the SSS has their phone numbers, they listen to them, and they give me the report.

We know what they are planning. We shouldn’t be waiting for them to attack. Why can’t we go after them?

“We are in a state of war. This place should be declared a war zone. The army, the Airforce, the police should go in there and kill them.

Will there be innocent casualties? Yes! In every war situation, there are casualties.

“We have written to the Nigerian Railways Corporation (NRC) twice to stop the evening service. The last train from Kaduna to Abuja should leave by 4pm, so it will get to Abuja in daylight.

“If anything is to happen, the response time will be quick, maybe in 30 minutes response time. When something happens, the response time will be faster in the day time. We were lucky the military response was just within an hour, because it was dead in the night.

“I’m angry, frustrated and feel totally helpless. Let us establish military basses within Katari and Rijana and there will be response quickly when there is any attack,” El-Rufai said.

Amaechi, while speaking too, said, “I will speak with the president. He has already given directives. I’m sure by the time we finish the repairs of the rail tracks, we would have gotten approval for the security equipment and we would possibly have installed.

“But even if we didn’t install, yet, we have spoken with the management of the Nigerian Airforce to escort the trains. They were previously escorting the trains but recently, the weather has been very bad and visibility dropped to below 500 meters so they couldn’t fly. So, they have not being flying with us and it’s why the latest attack was successful.”

According to the minister, Buhari has approved that, “we should employ people, who will be working on the rail tracks for the next six to seven months until we install the equipment. We intend to employ villagers on the corridor, so that they can report any suspicious movements to us and the security.

“We will commence work immediately and the military has promised us security as we work. It’s less than 2 kilometers of rail tracks. We will complete the work as soon as possible.”

He explained that, “If the ministry of finance releases the funds, then we can know the number of those to employ. But we will involve the DSS in screening the people we will employ.

Amaechi, while at the Nigeria Army Reference Hospital, said, “We are grateful to the Army. The CMD and I have been talking. The Army hasn’t charged a dime on any patient, not one naira and they have given the maximum medical care you can give to any patient.

“They treated the patients with bomb wounds and the lady with gun wounds in her heart, they are bringing in specialist, a cardiologist to attend to her. They have just seven patients left, the rest have been discharged, the federal government is grateful to the military for the assistance.

“We will liaise with the hospital to see how much money we can contribute to the victim’s medical bills. Obviously, the drugs are not manufactured here. The experts they are bringing from the outside don’t work for the Nigerian Army, they will have to pay them 

“The hospital management has not made specific requests from us but we wouldn’t wait for them to request. If the ministry can afford to assist, the ministry should assist,” he said, stressing that, “We are still contact-tracking to establish those missing.”

Chief Medical  Director  (CMD), of the hospital, Col. Stephen Onochukwu, said, “The situation is that the patients we received from the incidents are all stable. We had 25 of them that where admitted. We discharged some of them that are stable, but we are still following them up.

Currently, we have seven of them still left in the hospital.

“We deployed our contingency resources to manage the situation. There are no challenges. There is none of the cases that is beyond us, because we also have collaboration with the teaching hospitals so far. The expertise we do not have, we borrow to manage the patients,” Onochukwu said.

Saraki: Five Things FG Must Do Urgently to End Insecurity

A former President of the Senate and prominent opposition leader, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has listed five things that the federal government must do to end the current insecurity across the country.

In a series of posts on his verified Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, Saraki, who presided over the 8th Senate, said 20-point Security Recommendations were forwarded to the executive, and emphasised the need for effective intelligence sharing and the use of technology in order to combat terrorism in Nigeria.

“In the last 96 hours, terrorists have overrun an airport, bombed two trains with thousands of Nigerians, killed and injured several innocent citizens. As angry as I am — and we all are — about these attacks, one thing is clear: THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

“The recent attack we have seen at the Gidan train station is yet another example of why people no longer feel safe in Nigeria.

“We have seen too many attacks in too many communities across the country. We have lost far too many lives to still be at this point —commiserating daily with one family, one community, or the other. We need real solutions.

“As I have reiterated for many years, drastic and decisive steps need to be taken to review our nation’s basic security infrastructure to protect lives and property.

“One, the federal government must immediately establish an inter-agency task force that will formulate strategies to smoke out all bandits on the Kaduna-Abuja rail and vehicle routes. The recommendations of this task force must be acted upon immediately. In the long term, the task force should provide Nigerians with a strategy for ridding the entire country of bandits, insurgents, and kidnappers.

“Two, the service chiefs must have a meeting and develop an immediate plan for inter-agency collaboration. The gaps in coordination, intelligence-sharing, and synergy amongst our security agencies must be immediately redressed.

“Three, we must adopt 21st-century solutions to our present-day problems. We must make better use of technology to track the activities of these terrorists. We must equip our security operatives with the modern tools and equipment that they need to keep us all safe and prevent such attacks in the future.

“Four, we cannot view these attacks in isolation. Our intelligence network must be proactive. We must be able to analyse and plan

effectively to deal with all p rceived threats and all enemies of the Nigerian people.

“Five, we must show the strength of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by making sure that our Police, DSS, and Armed Forces immediately find, apprehend and prosecute all those that planned, participated, or facilitated these attacks in any way.

“We cannot continue like this. Two days ago, 970 people were attacked on a train between Katari and Rijana. Yesterday, Gidan. A few days ago, terrorists attacked the Kaduna Airport. Our people cannot continue to live with the constant pervasive fear of: ‘Where next?’ For the sake of all Nigerians, we need real solutions and decisive action,” Saraki stated.

NGF, Anyim Lament Attack, Charge Security Agencies on Peace

The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), yesterday, lamented the Kaduna-Abuja train attack on Monday night, and described it as a horror dream orchestrated by the wicked merchants of death, urging Nigerians to wake up and address once and for all, the recurring security challenges in the country.

Also,  a frontline presidential aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, has expressed concern over the fate of innocent Nigerians some of whom lost their lives, while others were injured, still being held hostage or traumatised as a result of the Monday night terrorists’ attack.

The NGF, in a statement by its chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said, “This is one attack too many. It must stop. First, as leaders, we owe the victims and their relations an apology”

Fayemi, who said these security challenges as “unwarranted acts of violence are becoming too regular and they basically question our collective capacity to govern.”

He prayed God to grant those that lost their lives eternal peace and a place in the deepest recesses of heaven, while wishing those that were injured speedy recovery to resume their lives and put their heartless aggressors to shame.

“If the intention of these murderers is to disrupt the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians, they will not succeed and when eventually total peace returns to the country, they will surely either be lifeless or excluded. I can assure you that this is an ugly phase in our national experience; it will certainly pass”

“We recognise the enormous risk you take every day. The cowards behind this will certainly not take over our country. Their violent demeanour will not result in anything positive, instead, it will confine them to an uncomfortable life in the jungle until the long arm of the law catches up with them,” Fayemi said.

Anyim in a statement by the spokesperson of his presidential campaign organisation, Ahmed Buhari, recalled his open letter to President Buhari in 2021, in which he counseled the government that military actions alone were not enough to solve the current insecurity problems in the country.

He said he recommended to the government, a process akin to the Willinks Commission of 1958 to thoroughly look into and find lasting solutions to the issues that were fueling insecurity and disharmony in the country.

Anyim said whatever had pushed Nigerians into killing their fellow citizens in these large numbers and at such frequency, was a serious matter that must command the urgent attention of both the government and every leader in the country.

He, therefore, urged the security agencies to spare no effort in rescuing any of the passengers of the ill-fated train that were still being held by the criminals.

Military Blames Social Media for Escalating Misinformation

The Nigerian Military, has blamed the social media for escalating misinformation about the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train a few days ago.

A former spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Sani Usman (rtd), said there were so much misinformation about the attack on the train passengers along the Abuja-Kaduna line, and blamed such unguided misinformation on the abuse of social media platforms.

According to him, “Nigeria is technologically deficient, because the protection of critical infrastructure such as railway requires physical barriers, surveillance, sensors, among others and that is what the country lacks, but the people, who do not understand the nature of the critical infrastructure, went to the social media to escalate false information about the attack.”

Speaking yesterday on the Morning Show of Arise News Channel, he noted that those issues had always been on the ground but nobody took them seriously, even as he criticised the services of the train station for commuting at that time, given the precarious security situation in the country.

He, therefore, condemned the attack and called for the intensification of efforts to make sure the perpetrators were apprehended and victims rescued.

“I drove from Abuja to Kaduna on Tuesday and a lot of video clips of corpses of soldiers were in circulation, and this is the problem of social media.

“I was privileged to go to 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital and also the mortuary, I know the number of dead bodies that were there.  A lot of information is on the social media, and we need to be responsible to other citizens and verify information before sharing it. There are credible sources of information that one can confirm with,” he said.

He also called for proper investigation to be carried out to know who did what and who has not done what in order to ensure that these kinds of things were mitigated.

On the response time it took for help to get to the attack scene, the retired General hailed the security forces particularly, the military, stating that the Abuja-Kano highway, which was under re-construction caused the delay and should be taken into cognisance.

“Personally, I was in touch and had the privilege of talking to the General Officer Commanding One Division. When he was moving and was able to get on the train, he told me, so the response time was quite marvelous. The most important thing we should emphasise is rescue efforts and putting in place mechanisms that these attacks should not happen again.”

On his part, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Freeborn Okhiria, explained that the slow response was as a result of poor signal and communication in the area, but insisted the soldiers responded in good time and that was the best that could be done at the time.

He further explained that the train left the station at 6.10 pm and when it did not get to the next station at the right time, that’s when they started asking questions and confirmed there was an incident.

Going forward, Okhiria explained that security couldn’t be embedded in the NRC alone as certain approvals needed to be gotten, noting that, Drones couldn’t be flown without getting relevant approval and licenses needed to be acquired.

“We want to have security 24/7 so if one fails, another can take over and that’s what we are working on. We have limitations with the present one we have and we have to improve on them. Technology is a daily thing that evolves everyday, we have to look ahead to be ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Okhiria added:

He, however, implored Nigerians to continue using the railway lines as it was still the safest mode of travel, urging them to report suspected activities in their environments and promised to continue improving on security measures to ensure a safe and secure use of train.

IG Orders Deployment of Drones

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Usman Baba, has ordered the deployment of five high-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) otherwise known as drones to improve surveillance operations in order to checkmate criminal activities in the country.

The police high command, in a statement, said the deployment of the drones underscored its determination to integrate the use of innovative technology in the law enforcement duties of the Nigeria Police and enhance its intelligence gathering and operational capabilities.

It said the drones would assist the police in monitoring active crime scenes, coordinating response operations and providing aerial support to responding officers.

The UAVs included an ALTI Transition, capable of covering up to 150km in a single flight with high endurance of up to 14 hours and an Elistair Orion fixed-wing aircraft, capable of covering up to 92m altitude with high endurance of up to 50 hours and other sensitive and forensic-based features.

The statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Mr Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the “UAVs will be remotely operated by police pilots from the Police Airwing, who have undergone specialised training by engineers of the Elistair company, who were flown in from France at the instance of the IGP, for a week-long training schedule, and have acquired technical skills and requisite know-how in the operation and maintenance of the procured UAVs”.

It said the IG had directed the immediate, adequate, and strategic deployment of the drones to areas prone to high-security breaches for monitoring and intelligence gathering to tackle criminality headlong.

Meanwhile, the FCT Police Command denied reports that bandits invaded Kubwa District of Abuja.

A statement by the command debunked claims that a number of miscreants stormed and raided pipeline extension area in Kubwa, Bwari Area Council in the FCT, dispossessing residents of their belongings.

“The command, therefore, wishes to categorically refute this erroneous and misleading news, stating emphatically that it  is baseless, unfounded and designed to instill fear and apprehension in the minds of the residents and the good people of the territory as a whole.

“The FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Babaji Sunday, urges  members of the public to disregard this news and discontinue its propagation in any form, and go about their lawful businesses without the fear of harassment or molestation,” it said.

Lawmakers Furious as NSA, Service Chiefs, Others Shun Summon

The leadership of the House of Representatives, and its Security Committees, yesterday, fumed at the absence of some security operatives, who were summoned to offer explanation on the current state of play.

Among those asked to appear before the security committees of the House were, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd); Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi; Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba.

They were to come for a meeting scheduled to discuss the recent Kaduna Airport and Train attack by bandits and how to tackle the current challenges.

The lawmakers, had at its Tuesday plenary, invited the above named government officials and other relevant heads of agencies like the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Department of Security Services (DSS), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Managing Railway Corporation and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

But, at the meeting, only the Managing Director of NAMA, Matthew Pwajok, was present while other government officials and heads of agencies sent representatives.

Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, in his remarks, said the meeting was a matter of urgent importance, because Nigerians no longer have recipe in terms of means of movement, ease of communication and many lives have been lost.

Bemoaning the absence of the officials, he said the meeting could not go on and should be rescheduled.

“So, we cannot proceed and I am saying with a heavy heart that no matter the assignment that our generals are handling, I believe the parliament requires a listening ear. This is the House of the people. I am saddened, I am not happy.

“I am expressing my disappointment. I do not know if you have any tangible excuse, because in all the agencies, none have the respect to have one chief executive here. It means then, maybe, we are considered to be jokers but we are not jokers. We are not,” he said.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, Abel Enitan tried to explain that his minister, Hadi Sirika, was out of the country on official assignment as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari before the attacks took place.

But a visibly angry Wase, warned him not to use the president’s name as excuse for his boss’ trip, saying the parliament was an institution on its own.

“Please do not use the name of the president. Please, excuse do not use the name of the president. If he is out of the country, he is out of the country. This institution is not under the presidency. It is an institution of its own,” Wase said.

Representative of Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs, Major General Akinjobi O.T, explained that they couldn’t be present at the meeting, because they were currently in a meeting on the directive of the president for the same reason and have been at it since last night.

On his part, the representative of the Police, DIG Sanusi Lemu, said, “The Nigerian police force and other security agencies are pained by the happenings. We apologise for the absence of our commandants. It’s not really deliberate, it’s because of the importance they attached to the parliament that’s why they asked us to come.”

Not satisfied with their excuses, however, Wase interrupting, lamented that it was only in Nigerian parliament that you summon accounting officers and they won’t come. Insisting that the government officials and heads of agencies should be present at the meeting and not send representatives, he opined that if there’s synergy in operation by security agencies, these attacks wouldn’t have happened.

He thereafter asked the representatives to go back, and ruled that the meeting should be rescheduled to Thursday 3pm.

NIPR, CAN Condemn Attack, Urge FG to Flush Out Terrorists

The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), have called on the federal government to find a lasting solution to the mindless killings and destructions by terrorists in the country, especially in the north, saying government must flush out the terrorists of the Kaduna train attack.

In separate statements yesterday in Kaduna, the two groups condemned Monday’s attack on the Abuja – Kaduna passenger train in which many people were killed, kidnapped and killed wounded by terrorists.

The NIPR, in its statement by its President and Chairman, Governing Council, Mukhtar Sirajo, urged security agencies to restrategise and get on top of the security situation posing serious threat to the country.

He said nobody or group had the right to continuously subject people to reign of terror, dehumanising them and seemingly getting away with it.

The NIPR, however, expressed sympathy with Nigerians “over the callous attack on the Kaduna-Abuja train.”

Sirajo said the attack was followed by deaths injury to, and abduction of unspecified number of passengers is not only unfortunate and unacceptable, but also a sad reminder of the descent into the abyss that security situation, especially, in the part of the country, has fallen.

“Nobody or group has the right to continuously subject people to this kind of reign of terror, dehumanising them and seemingly getting away with it,” Sirajo said.

Commending the gallant role of the armed forces and other security and law enforcement agencies, he stressing that there was the need “to square up to the bandits perpetrating these heinous acts. It is clear that that a lot more needs to be done to inspire the confidence of the people.

“The earlier attack on the same route, which occurred in October last year ought to have served as a wake up call for the system to be more proactive to forestall what was a not so unexpected occurrence, given the seeming over reliance of commuters on the train service as a safer alternative to plying the Abuja-Kaduna road.

“There is the very urgent need for our security agencies to restrategise and get on top of the situation rather than wait to react. Government on its part must spare no effort in continuing to provide the armed forces and security agencies with all logistical requirements to enable them up the ante in this must-win war.

“The intelligence gathering processes must also be given a shot in the arm to enable the agencies get ahead of these criminals in all ways imaginable. The NIPR expresses its heartfelt condolences to families of the deceased, federal and Kaduna State governments; prayed for the prompt rescue of those abducted as well as speedy recovery for the injured.”

CAN, in its statement by the state chairman, Rev. Joseph Hayab, called on the federal government to deploy everything at its disposal to crush the terrorists, who have had a field day in Kaduna and elsewhere in Nigeria.

The CAN Chairman said, the train attack, has “further amplified the vulnerability of Kaduna people and everyone who does business in the state, due to the rise in banditry and terrorism.

“CAN and all well-meaning folks have cried that Kaduna residents and visitors are living in perpetual fear of terrorists, who have demonstrated more audacity by constantly attacking people without the government doing much to end the killings.

“Even though banditry is a heinous crime, the bandits appear to have evolved an extended network for intelligence gathering and planning on how to fulfil their mission of terrorising innocent citizens.

“On the contrary, the resilience of the government and her intelligence gathering happens to be more about settling scores with perceived foes. CAN call on the federal government to deploy everything at her disposal to crush the bandits, who have had a field day in Kaduna and elsewhere in Nigeria…”

The association, therefore, appealed to the security agencies to employ innovative professional strategies for dealing with the situation and repudiate any political interference in security matters.

“A nation where mourning has become an everyday ordeal cannot be productive, because a heart that mourns becomes fragile, unable to think, plan or organize well,” CAN stated.

Ngige Mourns TUC Chair, Farouq Sympathises with Victims

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has commiserated with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the death of its Secretary General, Comrade Musa Lawal Ozigi and Kwara State Chairman, Comrade Akinsola Akinwunmi, who were killed in the Kaduna train terror attack.

In a condolence letter to the union, the minister described the death of Ozigi and Akinwunmi as a huge loss to Nigeria’s tripartite community, even as he described the late Ozigi as “a dogged and consummate labour leader.”

Ngige said his tragic death at the unfortunate Kaduna rail terror attack, “is a devastating blow at a time Nigeria’s  tripartite is ever united in finding solutions to the bestriding challenges in the world of work, nay the nation at large.

“We shall all miss his contributions. Ozigi’s self-effacing personality often belied his depth of thought and ideas. His seminal contributions to discussions on labour issues, no doubt, earned him a place in over two decades of service to unionism starting from the Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association, where he was Secretary General to joining the Congress in 2012.”

In the same breath, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq,  has condoled with the families and victims of the attack, and therefore, directed the immediate deployment of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Northwest Zonal Office team, to  the  scene and also visit the victims.

The Minister, who decried the incident as horrific, stated, “My heartfelt condolences to the families of those, who lost their lives in the attack. May God console and strengthen them at this time of grief. I also pray for the wounded and hospitalised persons, who sustained various degrees of injuries, that they recover quickly.”

Earlier, the NEMA team led by the Zonal Coordinator, Abbani Imam Garki, visited 11 victims receiving treatment at  St. Gerald’s Hospital in Kaduna.

Eight victims were referred to 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, while two of the victims, who sustained gunshot wounds and fractures, were still hospitalised.

The hospital management also confirmed the admission of 25 victims with different degrees of injuries.

A representative of the Chief Medical Officer of the 44 NARHK hospital, said while some had undergone surgery, other victims had been treated and under observation.