January 08, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has refuted reports that its Station at Ekehen, in Igueben Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State, has been shut down indefinitely.
A purported public announcement by the NRC posted on the passengers’ WhatsApp Group, had said the Corporation shut down the train station following an attack on the facility on Saturday.
“Public Announcement: This is to inform our general public and most especially, our esteemed passengers, that Ekehen Station has been temporarily closed due to security issues, till further notice,” the purported notice read.
But the Managing Director of the Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, in a chat with newsmen on Sunday, dismissed the notice as fake.
“As I speak to you now, a train is running,” Okhiria said, adding that the railway corporation is putting in place, measures to ensure the safety of passengers.
THEWILL reports that an unspecified number of travellers waiting to board a train from Igueben to Warri, in Delta State, were abducted and several others injured on Saturday evening when suspected herdsmen attacked the Ekehen train station.
Spokesperson of the State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, in a statement on Saturday night, said the suspected herdsmen, who were armed with AK-47 rifles, invaded the train station and shot sporadically into the air before herding an unspecified number of intending travellers into the bush.
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