Katsina State Commissioner for Health, Danja Yakubu Nuhu, and four other survivors have narrated their experiences on the Kaduna-bound train attacked by suspected terrorists on Monday night.
The train which departed Abuja 6pm on Monday was attacked by the gunmen at about 7:45 pm.
No fewer than eight passengers of the train were on Tuesday confirmed dead, while 26 were reported injured.
Many were also taken hostage by the terrorists.
The Kaduna State Government noted that fifteen of the injured persons were discharged on Wednesday by two hospitals that treated them, while one of the nine patients was said to require heart surgery for which the government said it was making efforts to ‘import’ a cardiologist.
However, some of the survivors, who shared their experience with visiting Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and his team in Kaduna, on Wednesday, said the assailants, who first targeted the VIP coach but could not gain entry, had to use coach SP 17 to do so.
One of the survivors, Katsina State Commissioner for Health, disclosed that the gunmen came in three Volkswagen Sharon vans which the suspected terrorists used to abduct many of the passengers.
Nuhu, who spoke in an interview with Channels, said: “The operators were clever in shutting down the engines and the lights. So, that inculcated fear in the bandits because they did not know what to confront.
“Most of the passengers tried to see how they could hide under the chairs, some went into the toilets and other places. They (gunmen) started by forcing the door of the VIP coach but they could not open it.
“I was in that coach. So, they entered through coach 17.
“Before then, about three minutes before the train halted, we had the train making a sound like an old trailer on bad pavement for about two minutes and people were asking themselves what was going on but before we knew it, they(attackers) started shooting from all angles. I think they put the gun in a rapid mood, so that inculcated fear in people.
“I could see when bullets were penetrating the body of the train, I saw holes. I tried to move my leg because it was on the floor and I was wearing a shoe but the bullet penetrated and one of my fingers is completely off.
“We waited for about 90 minutes before the rescue came. We were not sure whether the bandits had gone because we could hear the sounds and some sounds that seemed to be alien. The gunmen entered and they were matching people. They climbed the chairs and then swing themselves up.”
The commissioner continued: “I heard when they were asking who is a member here? I think they were looking for a better catch or maybe they had a target or a clue but they were asking questions in Hausa. I saw when they shot a pregnant woman, they were really merciless.
“One of the escapees was telling us that immediately you climb up to the embankment, you will see them standing with Sharon buses. He said the buses were three.
“I asked him how he managed to escape and he said he sat at the back and that when they got to a hilly place, the bus was struggling, he took the risk by jumping through the window.
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“He was fractured. He said it is better to sustain the fracture while trying to escape than the uncertainty that awaits him if he gets to the bandit’s camp.”
Another survivor, Fatima Shaibu, revealed that after the train derailed, they first heard a loud sound and then gunshots from all directions.
She said: “They (terrorists) broke into the train through the door of the VIP coach, shot at many and took several others away. My sister who was sitting next to me was one of those shot and killed by gunmen.
“I don’t know what to say again because there is now a lot of insecurity in Nigeria. By road we are not safe, by train we are not safe.”
Shaibu corroborated the account of another survivor, who said that the attackers were young men that looked like Nigeriens and Chadians.
“They looked young and they were speaking a different language from Hausa or Fulani,” she stated.
Another survivor, identified as Mallam Muhammadu , said he hid under a seat in coach SP 17 from where he saw the gunmen taking his fellow passengers away.
He added that they killed a passenger in the coach before proceeding to join their colleagues that first gained entry in the VIP coach.
Muhammadu further stated that the terrorists abducted many passengers in the VIP coach with a Volkswagen Sharon Van.
He disclosed that one of the abducted VIPs escaped from the van and joined nine of them that were in coach SP 17, adding that the train driver was among those killed by the gunmen while fleeing the scene.
The survivor said: “We saw the train driver. He came out and attempted to run but they shot and killed him. The terrorists were chanting Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar and saying Come down, come down!!.
”I was hiding under the seat praying…it remained about two steps for the terrorists to get to me but after killing a passenger, they started arguing before going to the VIP coach.
“They abducted many passengers.
“Some old passengers had trauma. One had an asthmatic attack and another died of a heart attack. All the dead bodies were left in the train because the soldiers felt it would be difficult to convey them to where we took refuge,” he revealed.
Maimuna Ibrahim, another survivor, who spoke in her hospital bed, said soldiers moved her to a safe place by the highway after she was shot in the thigh.
She said: “We saw hell, I prayed and prayed and prayed. I was shot in the thigh. But the bullet did not touch my bone. The bullet penetrated out of my thigh. I was unable to walk, it was the soldiers that carried me on the back of a vehicle that brought us to the hospital.
“We suffered seriously, but thank God soldiers came and they really helped us.
“I saw the terrorists from the window. They were many. I saw them forcing and beating them out of the train,” Ibrahim disclosed.
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