NRC Reports 146 People Are Still Missing A Week After The Kaduna Train Attack 

According to the NRC, 51 phone numbers on the inventory have been switched off or are unavailable since last Tuesday.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

According to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), 146 of the 362 passengers aboard the ill-fated train assaulted by terrorists last week are no longer reachable.

On Monday, April 4, 2022, the Corporation’s Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, announced this in a statement.

However, he stated that the total number of passengers who were safe had increased to 186.

He says that 51 phone numbers on the inventory have been turned off or are no longer available since last Tuesday.

He went on to say that 35 of the manifest’s phone numbers are ringing, but no one is answering.

Okhiria also claimed that 60 of the manifest’s phone numbers were non-existent when he phoned them.

While eight people have been verified deceased, the NRC chief noted that 22 people have been reported missing by their family.

The statement reads in part: “51 phone numbers on the manifest are either switched off or have not been reachable since Tuesday morning and 35 phone numbers on the manifest are ringing, but no response from the other end. 60 phone numbers on the manifest when called, responded non-existent.

”The statement is aimed at updating Nigerians on the ongoing development regarding the clearing of the incident site (recovery of the rolling stock, repairs of the track) and status of Passengers that were onboard the AK9 train of Monday, March 28.

”Of the 362 validated passengers on board the attacked AK9 train service on March 28, 186 persons on the manifest are confirmed to be safe and at their various homes (additional 14 persons confirmed safe today).

“Two coaches (SP 00016 and SP 00017) earlier re-railed have safely been moved to Rigasa Station.

”This brings the total number of recovered Coaches and safely moved to NRC Stations to be seven. Intensive work continues on track repairs. More concrete Sleepers were moved to site while some section of twisted tracks has been straightened.

”We remain grateful to the security agencies for all the support. We are very appreciative of Squadron Commander MOPOL 1 Kaduna’s visit to the accident site today.

The NRC chief committed to keep the public informed of progress in order to avoid misleading information and deception.