ABUJA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday ordered local security agencies to intensify their efforts toward rescuing the kidnapped victims of a recent train attack by unidentified gunmen in the northwestern part of the country.
Buhari gave the order at a security council meeting which he presided over in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, saying it must take immediate effect, according to Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser, who briefed reporters at the end of the meeting.
"The President has directed all the operational and intelligence elements to rescue these innocent people immediately and unhurt," Monguno said.
On March 28, a passenger train en route to Kaduna from Abuja, the Nigerian capital, was attacked by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Rijana, a town in Kaduna. The terrorists had planted explosive devices along the rail track, and when the Abuja-Kaduna bound train approached the point, the device exploded, causing the train to derail.
On March 29, the government confirmed that eight passengers were killed and 26 others sustained injuries in the attack, adding that investigations were still ongoing to ascertain the status of the passengers who were riding the train and remain unaccounted for.
Nigerian railway authorities earlier said in a separate statement that 362 passengers and 20 train crew members were on board the train at the time of the incident. It added that all 14 coaches involved in the train attack had been successfully recovered back to their stations.
Monguno noted that the Nigerian leader had considered the incident as "the last straw" amid a myriad of security challenges bedeviling the most populous African country.
The security advisor said insufficient technology and human intelligence had been responsible for the continued attacks by terrorists or bandits in Nigeria, among other challenges. ■