The Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) this Thursday evening, January 2, 2020, admitted that one of its passenger trains as attacked earlier today but disagreed that the attack was by gunmen.

NRC Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the attack was by youths who threw stones at the train.

He denied claims by some national dailies that a train conveying passengers to Abuja from Kaduna was attacked by suspected gunmen.

“This news is not correct. What happened according to the police escorts on the train is that a stone was thrown at the train by some boys, which affected only the window glass of coach SP4.

“Nigerians should not panic as the news of the suspected attack is false and NRC is doing everything possible to ensure safety of passengers,” Okhiria said.

Similarly, the Operations Manager, Abuja-Kaduna rail service, Mr. Victor Adamu, told Daily Trust that “some boys threw stones on the train but it didn’t have significant impact to warrant disruption of operations.”

Some national dailies had reported that armed men suspected to be kidnappers on Thursday morning attacked an Abuja-bound train with guns and other weapons.

The report alleged that the train, which left the Rigasa train station in Kaduna, at around 10 a.m. was attacked a few kilometres to Katari, about 70 kilometres to Abuja.