Findings by SUNDAY PUNCH indicated that dignitaries, who hitherto snubbed the train service, had now resorted to patronising it following the rising cases of kidnapping on the Kaduna route.
The spate of insecurity on the road prompted the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to inaugurate ‘Operation Puff Adder’ on Friday to address the challenge which was becoming embarrassing to the government.
Our correspondent who was at the Kubwa train terminal on Saturday observed a huge number of travellers jostling for tickets sold at N1,300 after queueing for about two hours.
However, they were able to obtain the tickets that would enable them to stand for the two hours trip as all the seats had been filled up. The trains run four round trips daily, it was learnt.
Our correspondent gathered that the four coaches had the capacity to sit 88 passengers and an unlimited number of people that were willing to stand in the aisle.
A private security guard at the station, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said many influential Nigerians, including senior police and military officers, had been patronising the trains since security deteriorated on the Kaduna highway.
He said, “We have been seeing top people we have never seen before taking the trains to Kaduna because of the activities of kidnappers and other criminals on the road.
“A senator was here yesterday (Friday) but he could not get a seat on the coach. His aide approached me for assistance; so, I spoke to one of the policemen stationed on the train to give him his seat with the understanding that the senator would give the police officer N1,000 when they got to Kaduna, but the man (senator) didn’t give him the money.”
The guard added, “The policeman complained to me and I was so angry; I had to pay him from my pocket and I have decided not to assist anyone to get a seat on the train anymore. Anyone who failed to get a seat should stand.”
A traveller, Judith James, said she decided to travel to Kaduna by train because she had a premonition that something bad might happen to her if she went by road, adding that she usually had strange feelings anytime something terrible was about happening.
She stated, “I feel safer inside the train. Ordinarily, many people in Southern Kaduna prefer travelling by road to Abuja due to the inconvenient location of the terminus which is situated in Rigasa.”
James recalled how an acquaintance was abducted in January while driving on the Kaduna-Abuja highway and held hostage for about a week. She disclosed that he was released after coughing out N1m.
One of the passengers, T.Y. Gbenga, who works in Abuja but travels to Kaduna every weekend to see his family, stated that he took the trains for safety reasons, noting that the road was too dangerous.
He criticised the ticketing system which he said was exploitative, noting that racketeering by the workers was rife. He called on the government to review the ticketing process so that customers could buy it online.
A businessman, Alhaji Abu Muhammed, said he was forced to use the train because of the activities of criminals on the road, adding that his car was parked at his Kaduna residence for safety reasons.
Muhammed decried the failure of the security agencies to curb the activities of the hoodlums terrorising commuters on Kaduna road, alleging that it might be a deliberate move by the government to force the people to patronise the trains.
He added, “I have been standing here for two hours. When I got here around 8am, I was asked to put my name on a list, but now that they are selling the tickets, they have jettisoned the list. The system is so corrupt.
Why can’t we buy the tickets online? Look at people struggling for tickets. Do we still need the Chinese to run the station for us after all the profits they made from constructing the rail lines? I could have driven down to Abuja, but I don’t want to take the risk due to the activities of kidnappers on the road.”
The Kubwa station management could not be reached for comment as the supervisor was said to be unavailable.
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