Kidnappers brazenly attack a train in Nigeria

RAILWAY DELAYS are the bane of travellers the world over. Occasionally, though, they may be a lifesaver. In October your correspondent boarded a train from Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to the northern city of Kaduna. A fault held up its departure for 30 minutes. This was just long enough that a train coming in the opposite direction was the first to trigger explosives placed on the track. Luckily, in that attack, the train limped on and nobody was hurt.Passengers travelling on the same line on March 28th were less fortunate. First a bomb derailed their train. Then gunmen set upon the estimated 400 passengers and guards, killing eight, injuring 25 and kidnapping an unknown number. The attack was the most brazen yet by the kidnapping gangs locally known as bandits that terrorise the region. This lawlessness, in addition to a long-running insurgency in the north-east by jihadists affiliated with Islamic State and regular clashes between farmers and herders, are rendering large parts of Africa’s most populous country ungovernable.