Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian security forces are searching for more than 30 train passengers who gunmen abducted over the weekend after attacking a train station in southern Edo state.
The passengers were waiting to board an evening train when gunmen began shooting, causing injuries. It is the first such attack in southern Nigeria and raises security concerns ahead of February's election.
The Edo state police said in a statement Sunday that operatives alongside the military, local vigilante and hunters are searching nearby forests for the victims. Officials say 32 people were kidnapped in Saturday's attack, but one escaped.
State Information commissioner Chris Osa Nehikhore told local dailies that a suspect has been arrested and is helping police in the search operation.
The police said herders armed with AK-47 rifles opened fire at the Igueben train sub-station as passengers waited to board an evening train on Saturday. Several people were injured, and railway officials have shut down all traffic at the station for the time being.
The attack comes barely one month since the resumption of train services from Abuja to the northern city of Kaduna. Train service had been shut down since March of last year, when armed men attacked a train and took more than 60 hostages.
All of those hostages have since been released.
Security analyst Chidi Omoje says a repeat of the train attack shows authorities did not learn from past experience.
"It's actually shameful because one would have expected that after that Kaduna incident, that these guys will sit down and make sure that there's a rail facility," Omoje said. "Don't forget that we're trying to revitalize our rail system in this country and now you see these kind of attacks on it. People will be naturally scared to even go close to anything train these days."
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Nigeria has been battling Islamist militants in the Northeast for more than 12 years. But in more recent years violence has spread to other regions of the country.
Security analyst Senator Iroegbu says authorities have not taken a big-picture approach in addressing security issues.
"Most times the response to these security issues is done in haphazard way like in silos, if it's happening in Kaduna some neighboring states feel that they're safe. It shows a government that is unprepared," Iroegbu said.
According to the Nigeria Security Tracker, more than 9,000 people were killed and 4,600 abducted across the country last year.
