The Nigerian Railway Corporation has released the detailed passenger manifest for the Abuja-Kaduna train service AK9 which was attacked by terrorists on Monday.
This was disclosed by the Kaduna State government, in a statement signed by the Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan.
The manifest received showed that 398 passengers bought tickets for the trip. Out of the 398 passengers, 362 were validated as having boarded the train through the recognised turnstile.
According to Aruwan, the NRC, however, explained that the passenger manifest does not include NRC staff and security officials who were on board.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said the loss of lives and infrastructure suffered as a result of the attack was avoidable.
Briefing journalists when he visited the scene of the attack on Tuesday, Amaechi said he had requested for surveillance equipments for the train tracks but was declined.
He said, “Because if we had those equipment, you will see nobody on that track. And I warned that lives will be lost. Now, lives are lost. Eight persons dead, 25 persons in the hospital.
“We don’t know how many persons have been kidnapped. And the cost of that equipment is just N3 billion. The cost of what we’ve lost is more than N3 billion.
“We’ve lost tracks, we’ve lost locomotives and coaches. We’ve lost human beings. And the equipment is just N3 billion.
“To fix all the things on that track now, will cost us more than N3 billion. And now even the things we said give us approval to buy – at the time we asked for it, dollar was N400, now it is N500. When you come with sincerity to government and your colleagues and people are stopping you, it is annoying.”
