Gunmen attack train, kill some riders

ABUJA (AP) :

Gunmen attacked a train near Nigeria’s capital on Monday night with explosives and gunfire, killing an unspecified number of the nearly 1,000 passengers on board, authorities and survivors told AP on Tuesday.

The attackers used explosives to first blow up the rail track before opening fire on the train near Abuja in northwest Nigeria, according to Fidet Okhiria, chief executive of the state-owned Nigerian Railway Corporation. Many people are also feared to have been abducted during the “unprecedented” attack, he said.

Authorities could not immediately confirm the number of passengers on the train but local media reported that nearly 1,000 were on board. “There were casualties but we have not been able to confirm the number,” said Okhiria, calling the attack a major setback. It is the latest in a series of other train attacks.

Abdulwadud Ahmad, a survivor, said he knew of nine passengers killed, including someone sitting close to him.

“They bombed the track and started exchanging fire with the security inside the train,” he told the AP. “They subdued the security, then came into the train ... and kidnapped a lot of people. They killed some people intentionally while some (were killed) with stray bullets.”

The train service is a popular route for many in Nigeria’s capital and in the neighbouring Kaduna state as travellers continue to stay away from roads notorious for kidnappings.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion quickly fell on the armed groups who have carried out thousands of abductions and killings in the northwest and central states of the West African nation.