Kaduna train attack: Obi of Onitsha was never meant to be on board, says palace

Nnaemeka Achebe, Obi of Onitsha, has denied reports that a phone call saved him from boarding the Kaduna-bound train attacked by gunmen on Monday night.

TheCable had reported how gunmen attacked the train in the Kateri-Rijana area in Kaduna.

According to the Kaduna state government, about 362 passengers boarded the train. The government said 26 persons were injured during the attack while eight bodies were recovered and several persons missing.

On Saturday, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) confirmed the safety of 170 passengers who boarded the attacked train, adding 21 passengers were missing.

Amid the reactions that trailed the incident, some reports claimed that the Obi of Onitsha was meant to be among the passengers that boarded the train but a phone call about an emergency reportedly saved him from doing so.

Reacting to the report, the palace of the Anambra monarch, in a statement on Saturday, said Achebe did not make the statements credited to him.

The palace said the monarch, scheduled to deliver a lecture on Tuesday, March 29, at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna, opted for road transportation with adequate security.

“While His Majesty was abroad, the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State, sent a letter dated 21 January 2022 inviting him to deliver a lecture on Tuesday, 29 March 2022 to its annual training programme of officers from all security agencies in the country on internal security,” the palace said.

“His Majesty, on return to Onitsha on 08 February, accepted the invitation in keeping with his commitment, along with his brother traditional rulers, to the promotion of peace and harmony in the country.

“In discussing the options for His Majesty’s travel to Jaji with his hosts on 14 March, the option of travel by train from Abuja to Kaduna was considered and set aside in favour of road transport with adequate security escort.

“Thus, His Majesty travelled safely to Jaji on 28 March and returned to Abuja on 30 March with very adequate security escort provided by the AFCSC, and no hitches whatsoever.

“On Thursday, 31 March, His Majesty attended the South East Leadership Press Conference at Enugu. In his brief goodwill message, he lamented the state of insecurity and violence in the country and drew attention to the train attack in which the Onitsha kingdom lost the young medical doctor, Chinelo Megafu.

“It was in that connection that His Majesty mentioned casually that the option of his travelling by train to Kaduna on that date had long been set aside in favour of road travel by mutual agreement with his hosts. No reference was made to any imaginary phone call from anyone. This has been His Majesty’s only public reference to the tragic train attack of 28 March.

“The news media were present at the Enugu meeting and one of them would be the likely source of the false and convoluted story claiming that His Majesty made the said statement on Saturday, 02 April 2022.

“Indeed, His Majesty was mostly engaged today with the Anambra peace meeting organised jointly by the new Anambra State Government of Mr. Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo and the Joint Body of the South East Council of Traditional Rulers and the Archbishops/Bishops of the South East on Peace and Conflict Resolution.

“Other than delivering the keynote press statement of the occasion, His Majesty did not engage the media on any subject whatsoever.

“The entire country is in dire straits on internal security, and anyone could be a victim in the situation that we currently face, for instance, the unfortunate victims of the train attack. Thus, it is absolutely callous for anyone to use such a distressful national tragedy to grab fake media attention.”