The Senate Committee on Land Transportation has urged the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) to collaborate with Nigerian security agencies working to rescue victims of Abuja/Kaduna train bomb incident still in captivity.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transportation, Mr AbdulFatah Buhari, made the appeal during his oversight visit to Obafemi Awolowo train Station in Oyo on Wednesday.
He said that there was a need for the Chinese to support security in Nigeria to help check such attacks.
Buhari said that they could help address such challenges by putting technology, such as Wifi and other facilities in place, to ease tracking.
“One of the strongest countries in the world today is Russia, they are asking for help from other countries.
“If one is asking for help, it does not mean that you have lost confidence your security.
“Today is the 44th day after the Abuja/Kaduna train bomb incident occurred, some victims are still in captivity.
“We need a solution; if the victims are my sister, brother or mother or myself, would I have the courage to attend this function?
“The Chinese can talk to our government, they may not tell us the style due to security issues but they can collaborate with our security agencies to rescue our people alive,” Buhari said.
He called on CCECC to collaborate with federal ministries to provide access roads and enhance electricity supply to improve service delivery by the Nigerian Railway Corporation on the Lagos-Ibadan standard rail gauge.
In his response, the Project Manager, CCECC, Mr Xia Lijun, commiserated with the families of the Abuja/Kaduna train bomb victims.
“This is not the first time the attack happened on that route; the first attack took place in October, but the bomb affected one track and we were able to move all passengers to a safer place.
“This attack that took place on March 28 affected two tracks and it was difficult for the train to move further.
” We all know that Nigeria is facing security issues which can be addressed, if we get good technical service and the Senate use their office to approve, such incident will not happen again,” Lijun said.
He said that CCECC was working closely with the Nigerian government to see the best equipment that would be suitable for the country.
Lijun said that the Chinese Embassy was aware of the challenges and was working with the Nigerian government to address the issues.