FG says if you have to use Abuja-Kaduna train, you must have NIN

The Federal Government has said that any Nigerian who wishes to use the Abuja-Kaduna train services must register their phone numbers and National Identification Number (NIN) at the point of ticket purchase.

The FG said this ahead of the planned resumption of the Abuja-Kaduna train services.

The government through the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said identity verification devices will be deployed at each train station for the identification of passengers’ identities. 

The NRC also warned passengers against using their NIN to purchase tickets for unknown persons. This according to the agency may lead to criminal prosecution.

While addressing journalists on Sunday, November 27, 2022, the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo said “Part of the measures put in place is the ticketing, as you know security starts from ticketing now I cannot buy a ticket unless you have a valid phone number and the National Identification card, and if you are a foreigner there must be means of identification that can be used produced by NIMC office.”

According to the minister, the FG has learnt lessons from the attack that led to the suspension of the service in March. 

Sambo said the FG has extended the resumption of commercial operation on the Abuja-Kaduna train service by one week but did not give a specific date for the resumption of the train service.

The minister had earlier said the NRC would not resume operation on the corridor until all those kidnapped by bandits on March 28, 2022, are rescued and reunited with their families.

It would be recalled that in March, Boko Haram terrorists attacked a moving passenger train in Kaduna.

The terrorists bombed the rail track and abducted over 60 passengers.

Six months after the attack, a terrorist negotiator, Tukur Mamu, who negotiated between terrorists and families of kidnap victims was arrested on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, in Cairo, Egypt while on his way to Saudi Arabia.

The DSS alleged that Mamu was part of an international terrorist network and used the cover of journalism to perpetrate his deeds.