Tension In Nigeria Over DSS Alert, Security Personnel Deployed Along Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line
Following the security alert raised by Nigeria’s secret Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has reportedly deployed security agents along the Abuja-Kaduna rail line.
Ibom Focus earlier reported that the DSS in a leaked memo addressed to the Managing Director, NRC, Abuja, warned of a planned attack on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line again by terrorists.
An Abuja-bound train was attacked in Katari village, Kaduna on March 28, 2022, prompting the NRC to briefly suspend operations along the route.
However, in the leaked memo signed by DSS Director of FCT Command, R.N. Adepemu, titled, ‘Security Alert: Impending Threat By A Coalition Of Banditry Syndicate To Attack Abuja-Kaduna Train Service Along AKTS Corridor’, the secret police urged train passengers to be vigilant.
The secret memo stated that bandits were plotting to attack the Abuja-Kaduna train to kidnap passengers on board for ransom any moment from now.
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The memo partly read: “Intelligence report indicates an impending threat to seamless train transportation along the Abuja – Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) The development is the sequel to the plot by a coalition of banditry syndicates to attack Abuja Kaduna Train Service aimed at kidnapping passengers on board for ransom any moment from now
“Given the threat inherent and the need to forestall likely breaches of security along the AKTS, it is advised that existing security arrangements be scaled up within and along the route. In addition, the need for the under-listed counter-security measures to be emplaced to nip in the bud the impending threats:
“Air surveillance patrol; Surveillance on the rail track; Military checkpoint/patrol; Police checkpoint/patrol; Security raid operations be carried out around Byazhin, Jibi, as well as Lja forest.
“Enhance the Nigeria Police Mobile Force (NPMF) operatives with a walkie-talkie to sustain escort services on trains; Deploy more Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) with a walkie-talkie to provide escort duty;
“Crisis response team be established in the advent of attack for quick response time; Intelligence sharing amongst all relevant stakeholders.”
DSS, however, noted that although the threat is yet to be in the public domain, the development is capable of heightening fears over the safety of lives and property amongst stakeholders and commuters of trail transportation along the AKTS corridor.
“Therefore, the need to discreetly manage this intelligence provided cannot be over-emphasized. This is particularly against the backdrop of fatal attacks along the routes which left casualties and victims hence, some passengers were killed as well as others abducted for several months before their eventual release.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered on Thursday morning that NRC management had deployed security agents to comb bushes to ensure that the planned attack was foiled.
Eons Intelligence, a risk consulting, security outfit, and intelligence gathering organization, which shared a picture of a security agent onboard a train with his rifle, said security agents had been deployed in bushes and train stations on the Abuja-Kaduna rail environs to thwart the plot to attack the train along the route.
It said in a tweet posted on its handle on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Following the DSS alert over an imminent attack on Railway, the Nigerian Railway Corporation has deployed security agents in bushes and train stations on the Abuja-Kaduna rail environs to thwart an alleged plot to attack trains and motorists plying the route.”
