The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has lamented the recent attack by bandits on the Abuja-Kaduna train, saying that the assailants are plotting to take over the country.
This is as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) made a call for a new security architecture that will help secure the lives and properties of Nigerians.
An unspecified number of people were killed on Monday night when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by the criminals in one of the train’s coaches went off and forced it to derail a few minutes into the trip.
Chairman of the NGF, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in a statement on Wednesday, said leaders at all levels must wake up to address the insecurity in the land.
According to the Ekiti State Governor, the Kaduna-Abuja train attack on Monday night is a horror-dream orchestrated by the wicked merchants of death “that we must all wake up from to address.”
He said, “This is one attack too many. It must stop.
“First, as leaders, we owe the victims and their relations an apology as these unwarranted acts of violence are becoming too regular and they basically question our collective capacity to govern.”
Meanwhile, the ACF in a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Murtala Aliyu, described the frequent attacks by terrorists in the Northern region as unacceptable.
The group insisted that the frequency of the attacks had shown that the region is under a siege.
The statement read: “The ACF commiserate with the souls lost, sympathises with the wounded and prays for an end to such ugly menace, not only in Kaduna State, but all over the federation.
“The fact that both air and rail systems, out of Kaduna, have been compromised, it is to be expected that a sensitive government should protect the only route (Kaduna/Abuja highway).
“The attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train is unacceptable, and the frequency of such attacks on our towns and villages, highways and now train tracks and airports are lamentable.
“The banditry and terrorism have excised the North and the major economic activities of North-East and the North-West with a new ploy to block Kaduna which is the main gateway to the Northern part of the country.
“One can, easily, recall how the lives and economy of the Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, and Kaduna (Birnin Gwari and Southern parts of Kaduna), were damaged, and now, taking their turn on the infrastructure.
“We call on northerners to remain positive and law-abiding, and not relent in their resilience and hope towards making lives better.
“We also call on the Federal and State Governments to, as a matter of urgency, revisit their security architecture, with a view to protecting lives and property of Nigerians.”
