FG Loses Over N1.2bn Revenue From Shutdown Of Abuja-Kaduna Train Services

The shutdown of the Abuja-Kaduna train services by the federal government may have led to the loss of over N1.2bn revenue from sales of ticketing alone, THE WHISTLER can report.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation had suspended the operation of the train service linking Abuja to Kaduna on March 29, after terrorists attacked the train around Kateri-Rijana area of Kaduna.

During the attacks on the train carrying 362 passengers, 62 were confirmed kidnapped by government officials.

When the terrorist attacked the train, eleven coaches were destroyed.
The former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, had said that it will cost the government N3bn to replace the damage caused by the terrorists.

Amaechi had said, “The cost of what we’ve lost is more than N3bn. We’ve lost tracks, we’ve lost locomotives and coaches. We’ve lost human beings. And the equipment is just N3bn.To fix all the things on that track now will cost us more than N3bn.”

Repairs began a few days after the attack and was completed in May.

Four months after the attack, 27 out of the abducted passengers have been released.

Findings by this website revealed that the train service along the Abuja-Kaduna route makes an average of N300m revenue monthly.

The immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi had confirmed the figure while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Hard Copy in December last year.

The former minister had said, “We make N300m per month from the Abuja-Kaduna train,” the minister had declared.

Going by this figure, it means that during the four months period covering April 1 and July 31, the government has lost a whopping N1.2bn revenue as a result of the shutdown.

The federal government had sought loan facilities from Chinese lenders to implement several infrastructural projects, including standard gauge rail lines.

According to the Debt Management Office the total borrowing by Nigeria from China stood at $3.67bn as at March 31, 2022.

While the government had said Nigeria has never defaulted on loans from foreign countries and international lenders, experts are of the view that the drop in revenue of the railway service may affect the repayment of the Chinese loan.

The shutdown of the train service may last longer as the current Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, has ruled out every possibility of reopening train services along Abuja-Kaduna until all the kidnap victims of the train attack are released and reunited with their families.

Sambo revealed this in Abuja when he embarked on an inspection tour of the Idu and Kubwa train stations.

He said the government is putting in place technologies that would ensure the treats of life along the train routes are eliminated.

He said, “By the grace of God we will make sure that these services resume, but until those things are being achieved. To rescue and reunite those that have been kidnapped with their families and put in place such technologies to ensure that threats to life are eliminated

“We will put in place, everything humanly possible by employing the best technology available anywhere in the world to ensure adequate security so as to safeguard life and forestall future recurrences,”