Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan asked the country’s security agencies to step up their war against the terrorists responsible for the attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train on Monday night.
And on his part, a former Senator representing Kaduna State, Shehu Sani, has said Nigerians should be allowed to carry arms to defend themselves against such attacks.
The two leaders wrote against the background of figures emerging on the number of casualties from the attacks. Apart from those who were killed in the attack, many sustained gunshot wounds while several were said to have been abducted by the bandits.
Speaking through a series of Tweets, President Jonathan commiserated with the families of the victims of the attack.
“I commiserate with the victims of Monday’s Abuja-Kaduna train attack, the families of the deceased, and other Nigerians who have been affected, in one way or the other, by recent events in our country, driven by the violent activities of bandits and terrorists.
“My thoughts are with them even as I pray that all those abducted will be rescued and reunited with their families, soon.
“I urge Nigerians to be vigilant, optimistic, and not to succumb to pessimism and fear.
“I call on the security and intelligence services to scale up their efforts and ensure that perpetrators of these dastardly crimes are served with justice, and restore normalcy to our land.”
Reacting to the attack, Sani urged the government to allow Nigerians to carry weapons to defend themselves.
“If the Government and security agencies can’t crush these terrorists and Bandits kidnapping and killing our people in Northern and Southern Kaduna, people should be officially allowed to carry the same weapons, and let’s see who owns the land,”
