The report of families and friends mourning the victims of the terrorist attacks on the Kaduna-bound train on Monday night and the continued lamentation of the spate of recent attacks with the question: ‘What is a Nigerian life worth?’ dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Guardian reports that as families and friends mourn victims of the terrorist attacks on the Kaduna-bound train on Monday night, Nigerians have continued to lament the spate of recent attacks with the question: ‘What is a Nigerian life worth?’
The orgy of attacks in Kaduna State continued, yesterday after terrorists at the weekend attacked an airport and followed it up with Monday’s rail track explosion at Gidan train station along the Abuja-Kaduna rail track.
It was gathered that the terrorists planted Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on the tracks forcing the train heading to Abuja from Kaduna to a stop. This is the second attack within 24 hours along the same axis.
As of press time, details of the second attack were still sketchy, and it wasn’t yet clear if there were casualties. Innocent Ajiji, president of the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers, confirmed the development to newsmen. He said: “We are yet to determine the extent of the damage.”
The incident comes hours after Monday’s attack, following which the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had announced the suspension of the Abuja-Kaduna railway operations.
At least eight persons were killed in Monday’s attack, which happened at about 7:45 p.m. at Dutse village in Chikun Local Government Area, a few kilometres from the Rigasa train station, which is the last transit point of the train.
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has decried the rapid drop in foreign investment flow to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
He equally decried the speed at which Europe has been pushing back against investment in fossil fuel, stressing that the Russia and Ukraine war has thought the world a big lesson, especially in the energy sector.
“One of the biggest problems we have in the sector has been investments. In the last 10 years, over $70 billion worth of investments came to Africa. But sadly less than $4 billion came to Nigeria, which is surprisingly the biggest country in Africa. If we cannot attract investments to Nigeria, you know where we are heading,” Sylva told a delegation of the European Union (EU), who paid a visit to his office in Abuja.
Speaking during the courtesy call by EU ambassadors led by Samuela Isopi, Sylva said Nigeria was ready to step in as an alternative gas supplier to Europe but urged the EU to encourage its oil and gas companies such as Shell, Eni, Total Energies among others to scale up investments in the country.
“One of the things we warned against earlier was the speed at which the EU was taking away investments in fossil fuels. We warned that the speed was faster than they were developing renewable energy. You can see now that what we were warning against is what is happening now,” he said.The minister told the delegation that the absence of fresh investment was stunting the growth of oil and gas in Nigeria and called for a change of attitude if the requests by the EU to increase supplies to Europe are to be realised.
The Punch reports that at least eight out of the 398 passengers, who boarded the ill-fated Kaduna-bound train from Abuja around 6pm on Monday, have been confirmed dead by the federal and state governments, while 28 are currently hospitalised and several others still unaccounted for.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the figures, also disclosed that from the manifest received from the Nigerian Railway Corporation, 398 passengers bought tickets, but 362 were validated.
Aruwan said the passengers’ manifest excluded the NRC workers and security officials on board the train, adding that several passengers could not be accounted for.
The commissioner stated that investigations were still ongoing to ascertain the status of the passengers who were on board the train and remain unaccounted for as of the time of filing this report.
Aruwan said, “The Kaduna State Government has received from the NRC the detailed passenger manifest for the Abuja-Kaduna train service AK9, which was attacked by terrorists on Monday.
“According to the documents received, 398 passengers bought tickets for the trip, but 362 were validated as having boarded the train through the recognised turnstile. The passenger manifest does not include NRC staff and security officials, who were on board.
“Furthermore, security agencies have reported that eight bodies were recovered and 26 persons were injured during the attack. Investigations are still ongoing to ascertain the status of the passengers, who were on board the train and remain unaccounted for at the time of this update. Search operations are also being sustained.”
The terrorists, who victims said were between the ages of 18 and 22, were reported to have placed an Improvised Explosive Device on the tracks around Dutse inwards the Rigasa Train Station.
After detonating the device and forcing the train to derail and fall on its side, the terrorists shot at it indiscriminately. Not done, they dragged some of the passengers out into waiting buses and drove into the bush before the late arrival of security operatives over an hour later.
The newspaper says that confusion has surrounded the death of Confederation of Africa Football’s doping doctor, Dr. Joseph Kabungo.
Kabungo, a Zambian medical practitioner, was said to have died shortly after Ghana stopped Nigeria from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday.
There are reports that Kabungo died as a result of the stampede that occurred at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja before the commencement of the match.
However, another account blamed fans’ invasion of the pitch after the match for the doctor’s death.
It was also reported that the doctor suffered a cardiac arrest.
Neither officials of the Nigeria Football Federation nor CAF have confirmed the cause of the doctor’s death.
This is as efforts to reach the officials proved abortive as of the time of filing this report.
The Vanguard says that President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, pledged Federal Government’s support for any viable initiative to improve tax revenue in the country.
Buhari, who lamented that revenue from commodities, including crude oil, were too volatile and unreliable for the country to depend on, also called for the promotion of synergy in tax administration among the different tiers of government.
He noted that in most tax-efficient nations, tax administrative processes and practices were harmonised within a single system. Buhari, who stated these while declaring open the second National Tax Dialogue week with the theme, “Tax Harmonisation for Enhanced Revenue,” at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, called for improved tax revenue without necessarily raising new taxes.
He expressed his administration’s commitment to an efficient tax administration in order to improve tax revenue in the country.
President Buhari also expressed concern at the current tax system, characterised by fragmented administration, multiple and sometimes, overlapping taxes.
He said: “In most tax-efficient nations, tax administrative processes and practices are harmonised within a single system. One key deliverable of this year’s tax dialogue is to promote synergy in tax administration among the different tiers of government.
“Harmonising taxpayer identification across the country is a good start, but we must do more to promote ease of doing business, including ease of tax compliance, in Nigeria.”
GIK/APA