Nigerians who wish to travel by rail from May 2022, should get their National Identity Number ready, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, stated.
According to him, this means of identity will enhance the profiling of passengers, which he said would also enhance the safety and security of rail users.
The development trails the recent terror attack on an Abuja-Kaduna bound train. The Nigerian Railway Corporation had confirmed eight deaths, while many persons were declared missing.
The News Agency of Nigeria quoted him as saying, “The process of linking passengers to their NIN for improved profiling is ongoing. This layer of passenger screening will commence by May.
“The Abuja-Kaduna Train Service will resume as soon as possible with additional security measures put in place.”
The NRC suspended the Abuja-Kaduna route following a March 28 daring attack by assailants, who injured passengers and kidnapped many.
He said the security agencies were working tirelessly to ensure the rescue and release of all abductees, noting that 362 passengers and 20 crew members were aboard the train when it was plundered.
“While we continue to sympathise with families of those who lost or have not seen their loved ones, we encourage anyone still looking for a loved one to please call us.
“The corporation will continue to update the general public of the latest developments,’’ he stated.
Okhiria added that as part of security measures in forestalling future occurrences, the NRC had re-railed the last rolling stock affected in the attack.
“This means that all the 14 de-railed rolling stock (11 coaches, two rescue coaches and one locomotive engine on the rescue train) have all been re-railed – from the incident site to our stations at Idu, Abuja and Rigasa, Kaduna.
“Intensive track repair work continues at the site. An advanced level of track repairs has been achieved and hopefully, it will be rounded off in 10 days,” he explained.
