The Federal Government has said it will employ the services of vigilantes to secure train services.
The extra security arrangement for the rails is expected to start with the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor, following the March 28 attack that has halted services along the corridor for months.
The Special Adviser (SA) on Land Transport and Union Matter to the Minister of State for Transportation, Odukale Oluwafemi, who announced this at a National Transportation, Environment and Public Safety Summit, organised by the Nigerian Youth Congress (NYC) in Abuja, said President Muhammadu Buhari was having sleepless nights over the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train.
The special adviser said the ministry was working with security agencies to ensure safety of passengers and their luggage when the train resumes operations.
He said the ministry is presently working with other security agencies to ensure safety when the train operations resume.
According to him, apart from working with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the police to ensure safety, the ministry would also engage local vigilantes among the communities the train passes through.
He said: “President Buhari is doing so much as to the insecurity situation in the country. We must give that to him. I can tell you that he is having sleepless nights just because of the incident that happened.
“Of course, the rail system, which is under the Ministry of Transportation, is doing all it can. As we enter into the ‘ember’ months, we have people who want to make use of this means of transportation. So, we are very sure that before you know it, the rail transport will return to life.
“The ministry is working with other security agencies. We have the road safety, the police, and even the local vigilantes. The ministry is not doing this in isolation. So, for security, the ministry is working closely to ensure that such incident never happens again.”
