Road, rail and air transport are being threatened due to the activities of non-state actors that have continued to hold Kaduna State, the administrative and political capital of northern Nigeria hostage.
Kaduna has been under siege for the last 10 days. From the attacks and killings of over 50 residents in nine communities of Giwa Local Government Area and the abduction of dozens last Friday, to last Sunday’s killing of one person, and the attempted security breach of the airport in the state, security sources said it appeared that terrorists were regrouping to hold Kaduna to ransom.
Monday’s bombing and killings, as well as the abduction of passengers on the Abuja-Kaduna train, are considered as the most daring and well-coordinated attack on the state in recent months. The attack, which derailed an 8pm Kaduna-bound train, which had earlier left Idu train station in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had claimed nine lives, with a yet to be known number of people still in captivity.
According to the train passenger manifest, 398 passengers had bought tickets for the last batch of Monday’s Abuja-Kaduna trip, although 362 had been validated as having boarded the train.
The attack on the rail line, compounded by the recent temporary withdrawal of air services by Azman and Air Peace, the only two carriers that shuttle Kaduna, has placed the state in what experts call a “closed economy.”
This is already forcing a drop in economic and social activities, as the state government, on Thursday postponed the second edition of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs’) summit earlier scheduled for April 5.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/how-terrorists-pushed-kaduna-to-the-edge
