Police arrest six people after attempt to steal train coaches – NRC

According to the NRC, no attempt was made to take any of its train cars in Maiduguri.

In connection with an attempt to hijack train coaches in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, six people have been detained.

Yusufu Mohammed, the state’s commissioner of police (CP), claims that residents of the Bayan quarters, the train station’s administrative centre, provided a tip that led to the arrest of the accused.

Speaking exclusively to Channels TV, CP Mohammed claimed that a mastermind in Bauchi State loaded two coaches into a caravan to be driven to Jos but was stopped by police officers. The mastermind had been impersonating a member of the railway company.

The suspect, who allegedly claimed to be working on a contract for intrastate transport services between the Plateau State Government and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), was found to have lied during questioning, according to the CP.

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The CP informed our correspondent that the coaches were en route to Jos and that six of the suspects who had been detained were already in the care of the NSCDC’s Borno Command for attempting to move the coaches out of Borno.

According to the NRC, no attempt was made to take any of its train cars in Maiduguri.

Fidel Okhiria, the managing director of the NRC, announced this in a statement on Saturday.

Contrary to online rumours, the NRC boss claimed that the coaches shown in popular videos were being transported to Jos in Plateau State for an upgrade.

“NRC management wishes to correct this inaccurate reporting by clarifying that the aforementioned coaches have been transported to the NRC Running Shed in Jos, Plateau State, where they will be repaired and placed back into service.

The statement partially read, “NRC is trying to extend Rail Mass Transit all over the country.”