Nigeria’s transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked Nigerians to contribute funds for the medical treatment of victims who were aboard the bombed Kaduna train.

Peoples Gazette on Monday reported that bandits detonated explosives to crash the Abuja-Kaduna train with 1,000 passenger onboard.

The bombing resulted in several casualties and fatalities with many passengers missing and unaccounted for by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC). 

Mr Amaechi, who visited the victims at 44 Nigerian Army reference hospital in Kaduna on Wednesday, commended the benevolence of the nigerian army who had been treating them for free.

”The CMD and I have been talking, the army has not charged one kobo on any patient, and they have given the maximum medical treatment that they can give to any patients,” explained the minister.

Mr Amaechi then made a passionate plea to Nigerians to donate money for the victims’ treatment in order to reduce the financial burden on the army’s hospital management.

“They said they have only seven (patients) left and the rest have been discharged. The ministry, and I think the federal government, are grateful to the Nigerian Army for providing such services. But one thing I have said to the Nigerian people is to liaise with the hospital management and see how much money they can contribute for the treatment of the patients,” said Mr Amaechi.

He further explained that the hospital management had summoned the services of medical expert to dislodge a bullet in the heart of one of the victims, thereby stressing that funds were needed to pay the expert and buy the required medication for the recovery of other victims.

“Obviously those drugs are not manufactured here, the experts they are bringing from outside doesn’t work with the army, so they definitely have to pay them. We will try as much as possible to see what contributions we can make to the management of the hospital to assist in taking care of the patients.”