Ahmed Miringa 
…as Governor Zulem assures youth of government support to revive rail transport
Thousands of youths carrying placards with different inscriptions such as ‘We want our Railway coaches back, No to the evacuation of Railway facilities from Maiduguri’ among other inscriptions protested the evasion of railway Coaches out of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
Drama ensuite when some trucks stormed the Railway Station and loaded quite a number of coaches, before Police authority arrested six persons, and deflated the tyres of the trucks, even as the Nigeria Railway Corporation, (NRC) authorities in Abuja issued a statement that the coaches were to be evacuated to Jos, Plateau state for overhauling.
Also, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, (NSCDC) admitted that it had received an official communication regarding the evacuation of the coaches, but the police insisted, it had not been communicated on the matter, hence, the arrest and detention of the culprits.
In a swift reaction while addressing hundreds of thousands of aggrieved residents who invaded the station on Sunday, the state Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has assured the protesting on the streets of Goidamgari and Railway Terminus general area of Maiduguri Metropolis that the state government is strongly behind and is against the evacuation of Coaches out of the state.
Represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Umar Kadafur informed the protesters that the Government under his watch would not allow any Railway facilities to be evacuated out of the state, instead, it would work assiduously to revive the Railway services for effective transportation and development.
“We are here to identify with your concern as law-abiding citizens. We want to assure you that Borno State Government will not allow any of the Railway facilities to move even an inch out of Maiduguri Station.
“Borno is the only state in the federation that borders three different countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroun, and so, Railway services are key to enhance trans -Saharan trade.
“Therefore apart from halting the evacuation of these coaches, the Borno State Government will ensure that other coaches that were evacuated in one way or the other are returned back to Maiduguri,” Zulum said
The Governor appealed to the protesting youths to be calm, law-abiding and peaceful, as the Government will take decisive action to halt the evacuation of Railway facilities henceforth.
Earlier in their speech, the leader of the protesting youths, Mallam Abubakar expressed displeasure on the incident, stressing that Borno state which has suffered devastation by over a decade of Boko Haram crisis needs Government intervention in reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement including revamping of the Railway services, and not to embark on evacuation of its facilities.
