Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said that he is not worried about passengers’ security on the Abuja-Kaduna railway because the highway is well protected and there has not been a kidnapping case there since October last year.
El-Rufai explained that security is not an issue on the Abuja-Kaduna rail service but getting the people to obey the Federal Government’s COVID-19 guidelines.
The governor made this disclosure while briefing journalists on Saturday at the testing running operation trip of the Nigeria Railways Corporation (NRC) in Kaduna.
He said: “The train is secure, the train is well protected, even the Abuja-Kaduna highway is well protected, there has not been a kidnapping case there since October last year.
“So, I am not worried about security. What I want to appeal to people that’ll use the train is to ensure that they keep physical distancing, wash their hands as the COVID-19 is still very much around.
“Infections are rising, and the fastest way to get it is a congested train.
“So we must be very careful, we must not insist on going on the train if it is up to the capacity and everyone must wear his face mask before entering the train, throughout the train ride and after.
“That’s what I’ll appeal to everyone because this disease is still with us, we have not reached the peak, and when we reach the peak it comes down, and there is likely to be a second wave.”
The governor also lauded the Federal Government and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for their efforts in the operation of the railway service.
He said: “We requested the Federal Government to suspend the train services at the time of the onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but we believe now that is time to resume the train services.
“And we had written a request weeks ago when we relaxed the lockdown.
“We have been briefed on all the measures that the Federal Government has put in place to ensure physical distancing, hygiene, sanitary observance to protect everyone, and we are looking forward to this.
“We are also grateful that the number of frequencies for the train has been increased because more and more people will use the train to go to Abuja and from Abuja to Kaduna.”
