Nowhere Is Safe Any Longer For Nigerians – Obasanjo

Nowhere Is Safe Any Longer For Nigerians - ObasanjoOlusegun Obasanjo has said that nowhere is safe any longer for Nigerians, The Nation report.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the Muhammadu Buhari administration is overwhelmed by rising insecurity across the country.

He said the development showed that no part of the country or place where Nigerians are safe: in vehicles, on the train or on an aircraft.

The elder statesman, who was reacting yesterday to the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train, said the country is in a precarious situation.

Obasanjo spoke at his Penthouse within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, te Ogun State capital, when a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Dr. Ugochukwu Williams, and his team visited him.

Williams, who was accompanied by House of Representatives aspirants from Plateau and Imo states, was at Obasanjo’s home for consultation over his presidential aspiration.

While calling for concerted efforts among Nigerians against the rising cases of insecurity, the former President noted that the current administration had been overwhelmed by the situation.

But he urged Nigerians to disallow the situation from engulfing the country.

“Nigerians are no longer safe on the road, on the train and at the airport,” Obasanjo said.

The ex-President said Nigerians should not to allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the insecurity challenges.

“So, if anybody comes to say I want to see you, I want to talk to you, I will say: ‘You’re welcome’. This is because I believe very strongly, and I have said it publicly and I will say it again, that the situation we are in this country is not a situation where one man will say yes, he has a solution unless we are deceiving ourselves.

“I believe we need to sit down collectively and look at the situation.

“A situation where you are not safe on the road, you are not safe in the train, you are not safe at the airport, shows a very serious situation.

“I believe that all right-thinking Nigerians must know that we have a situation that has overwhelmed the present administration. But we should not allow that situation to overwhelm Nigeria,” he added.

Also, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has confirmed that 186 out of the 362 passengers who boarded the ill-fated train from Abuja to Kaduna last Monday night are in safety.

In a statement last night by the Managing Director, Fidet Okhiria, also said 51 phone numbers on the manifest are either switched off or not reachable since last Tuesday.

The statement reads: “In our quest to keep the general public informed with ongoing development regarding the clearing of the incident site (recovery of the rolling stock, repairs of the track) and status of onboard passengers the AK9 train of Monday, March 28, 2022, the corporation hereby provides the following updates as at end of work today April 3, 2022.

“Two coaches (SP 00016 and SP 00017) earlier re-railed were safely moved to Rigasa Station. This brings the total number of recovered coaches and safely moved to NRC Stations to seven.

“Intensive work continues on track repairs. More concrete sleepers were moved to site while some section of twisted tracks has been straightened.”

Giving an update on the status of the passengers, Okhiria added: “Of the 362 validated passengers on board the attacked AK9 train service on March 28, 2022, 186 persons on the manifest are confirmed to be safe and at their various homes. (Additional 14 persons confirmed safe today).

Also, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has said 21 passengers are still missing from the over 970 passengers on board of a Kaduna-bound speed train from Abuja around 8 p.m on March 28 in Dutse, Kaduna State.

The corporation announced that 172 other passengers on the train have been reunited with their families.

NRC’s Managing Director Fidet Okhiria announced these in the latest (the fourth) statement issued yesterday since the incident took place.

The NRC boss said the corporation was cooperating with security agencies to ensure that all missing passengers are reunited with their families and the tracks made safe for its operations.

“The corporation also confirms the update that a total of 172 passengers on board the AK9 are safe and okay while 21 passengers are still reported missing.

“Let us assure our esteemed passengers and the general public that the corporation, in collaboration with all security agencies, will leave no stone unturned in our efforts at rescuing the missing persons,” he said.

The NRC boss explained the current conditions of the coaches involved in the attack.

Okhiria said: “At the end of work on Saturday (March 02, 2022), the NRC’s restoration team has further recovered four more coaches and two of the coaches (SP 00007 and SP 00013) and has been safely taken to Idu and Rigasa stations respectively.

“The other two coaches are still at the site due to damaged tracks. This brings the total coaches recovered to seven, but only five successfully moved to the stations.”

The NRC boss, who said there were efforts to link the tracks, added that 80 metres of the affected sections had been fixed, including affected sleepers and twisted rails.

Brainnews

Eyo Nse is a creative writer, blogger and a software engineer.He is a simple individual who loves to see others succeed in life.Mr Wisdytech as he is popularly known - started blogging in the early 2000's.