President Muhammadu Buhari risks leaving a legacy of having overseen the expansion of territories vulnerable to insecurity during his presidency according to Bloomberg.
Buhari, a retired general came to power in 2015 brandishing his military credentials and pledging to contain the Islamic militants and bandits that have laid a siege on large expanse of territories in northern Nigerian but his record has been condemned by Nigerians.
On Monday, armed men carried out lethal attacks on a passenger train outside Kaduna, a major northern city in Nigeria, bringing pervasive insecurity across the country closer to its urban centers.
According to one official account, unidentified gunmen targeted the train traveling to Kaduna from Abuja, the capital, blowing up the track and then opening fire on trapped passengers.
At least seven people on board died, while others were injured or kidnapped, according to Lagos-based Channels Television. The attack came two days after Nigerian security forces repelled an assault on Kaduna’s airport that left one person dead.
The incidents are a particularly brazen demonstration of the deadly violence that’s plagued large parts of northern Nigeria for several years. Passengers pay more to travel the 100 miles between Abuja and Kaduna by air or rail because cars and buses are regularly attacked on the road linking the cities.
Read also: PHOTOS: Officials visit victims of Abuja-Kaduna train attack
President Buhari on Tuesday ordered the security agencies to “bring back all passengers kidnapped and ensure that each of the callous terrorists are hunted down,” according to a statement emailed by a spokesman.
The latest attack came hours after Information Minister Lai Mohammed lauded the railway line that was opened to passengers in 2016.
“We are proud that in our time Nigerians are once again able to travel by rail, this time in total comfort and safety,” he said in a speech Monday.
Buhari’s administration has labeled the so-called “bandits” accused of destabilizing northern Nigeria as terrorists. The military has struggled to stop them carrying out massacres and mass abductions that have forced thousands of people in the region to flee their homes.
The government has also faced sustained criticism for its inability to check widespread insecurity caused by other organizations, including an Islamist insurgency that’s been active in the northeast for more than a decade and a revitalized secessionist movement in the southeast
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
