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Train attack: “I prayed and prayed and prayed”
Survivors of Monday’s terrorist attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train have recounted their ordeals.
Several people were killed while many others were abducted by the terrorists during the attack between Kateri and Rijana communities in Kaduna state.
Speaking to journalists on her hospital bed, one of the survivors, Maimuna Ibrahim, who was shot on the thigh, said it was a horrible experience.
“We saw hell, I prayed and prayed and prayed”, she said. “I went to a workshop in Abuja in the morning and I was on my way back to Kaduna that same day after the workshop,” she narrated.
“I was shot on the thigh. But the bullet did not touch my bone. The bullet penetrated out of my thigh. Honestly, we suffered seriously, but thank God soldiers came and they really helped us,”
Maimuna said she was unable to walk after she was shot and soldiers had to carry her out of the train to a vehicle by the expressway
“I was unable to walk, it was the soldiers who carried me on the back to the vehicle that brought us to the hospital. They were able to pass over the cliff, carrying us on their backs! Seriously, they tried because it was not easy climbing the cliff,” she said.
“The terrorists came, were moving about in the train, but they did not come to where I was seated. I was hit by the bullet through the window. They entered SP17. As they were shooting, the police security on the train asked us to lie down on the floor of the train so that the bullet will not get at us. Unfortunately before I could lie down the bullet hit me,”
“I saw the terrorists from the window. They were many, they were small boys of between the ages of 18 and 20. They appeared like Fulani. They wore turbans. They don’t look like Nigerians. They were shouting Allahakubar,”
“They abducted some people, I saw them forcing people out of the train. They were beating them as they were taking them out of the train. They were shouting Allahuhakubar, Allahuhakubar as they shot sporadically”, she said.
Also speaking on her hospital bed, another survivor, Fatima Shuaibu, a student of College of Education, Gidan Waya, Kaduna state, said her sister was killed in the attack.
“My sister, Zainab Awal, was shot on the stormach and she died,” she said amid tears.
Shuaibu said she was seated by the window when she started noticing flashes of torch lights. She said initially, she thought it was the villagers around the area, but when she suddenly heard a loud explosion and the train went off track, she knew there was trouble as her heart started palpitating.
“I was seated by the window in the train. Suddenly I started seeing flashes of touch light, this was around 8pm. Then there was a loud bang as if something exploded. Then the train went off track as if was falling down. We started shouting and praying. As soon as the train stopped, we started hearing gunshots.
“The security personnel on the train announced that everybody should lie down on the floor of the train. They attacked the VIP couch, they abducted some people and took them to the bush, they shot other people
“They operated for about two hours or so before soldiers and Airforce arrived and they exchanged gunshots. The terrorists came with five buses and motorcycles. Those who were abducted were taken away in the Sharon buses
“The terrorists were small boys of between 18 to 20 years. I saw them, they dont look like Nigerians. The soldiers rescued us in the train. Those of us who were injured were evacuated from the train. They climbed the cliff with us and took us to the expressway where vehicles were brought to carry people.
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Kim Kardashian, Ciara, Maye Musk, and Yumi Nu cover Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has revealed the cover of its 2022 edition.
The cover features Kim Kardashian, singer Ciara, veteran model Maye Musk and recording artist Yumi Nu.
Kim graced the front magazine rocking her SKIMS brand for the cover.
Ciara looked stunning in her swimsuit.
In an interview with the magazine, Kim shared how excited but shocked she is to be on the cover at her age.
Kim said: “I vividly remember Tyra Banks on the cover and women with curves. I remember just thinking, That was cool. That was cool!”
Kardashian says in a sit-down video interview for the new issue. “But I still didn’t think that I would ever— I thought you had to be a professional model and a runway model.”
She adds, “And it’s always really young girls. I don’t wanna date myself or sound old, but in my 40s? Like, that’s crazy. I never thought in a million years that I would be shooting one myself.”
MJ Day, editor-in-chief of SI Swimsuit, said in a statement to People, “The journey we’ve been on — to break out of the mould the world put us in — may sound familiar. It’s certainly familiar to the women we’ve chosen to be our cover models: Maye, Ciara, Yumi, Kim.
“Of course, Kim, no stranger to the world’s judgment, continues to live proudly, authentically, and unapologetically through the noise.”
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Sweden announces it will apply to join NATO
The Swedish government has confirmed it intends to apply for membership of Nato, joining neighboring Finland in a similar decision following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to date.
“There is a broad majority in Sweden’s parliament for Sweden to join Nato,” said the prime minister, Magdalena Andersson. “This is the best thing for the security of Sweden and its people … We are leaving one era behind us and entering a new one.”
Andersson told reporters after a parliamentary debate on Monday that Sweden would be “in a vulnerable position” while the application was processed, but that ministers saw no direct military threat from Russia at present.
Before the announcement, Stockholm had received security assurances from key partners, including the US, Britain, Germany, and France, she said, and on Monday Denmark, Norway and Iceland also pledged support, saying they would “assist Finland and Sweden, by all means, necessary” if they were attacked before obtaining Nato membership.
However, the government “can’t exclude that we will be subjected, for example, to disinformation and attempts to scare and divide us”, Andersson said, adding that if its application was approved, Sweden would not want permanent Nato military bases or nuclear weapons on its territory.
The decisions by the two Nordic governments drew an initial response from Moscow.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said the countries “should have no illusions that we will simply put up with it”, calling the move “another grave mistake with far-reaching consequences” and warning that the “general level of military tension will increase”.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, later said Moscow did not see Finnish and Swedish Nato membership as a direct threat in itself. “Russia has no problem with these states – none,” Putin said.
“And so in this sense there is no immediate threat to Russia from an expansion of Nato to include these countries,” he said. He warned, however, that deployment of military infrastructure on their territories “would certainly provoke our response”.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, also said Moscow would “follow very carefully what will be the consequences” of the Nordic nations’ move “for our security, which must be ensured in an absolutely unconditional manner”.
This comes after the Finnish government confirmed its intention to join Nato on Sunday, shortly before Andersson’s ruling Social Democrats abandoned decades of opposition to back a Swedish bid for membership, making Monday’s Riksdag debate a formality.
Russia has previously advised both countries against joining Nato, saying such a move would oblige it to “restore military balance” by strengthening its defences in the Baltic Sea region, including by deploying nuclear weapons.
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“I’ve seen enough” Wofai says as she shares the phallic food she was served in Paris
Wofai Fada has shared photos of the phallic food she was given in Paris.
The actress was served a penis-shaped bun alongside the rest of her meal.
Amused by the meal, Wofai wrote on Instagram: “Wetin dey really occur for the city? I’m officially done with Paris! Ive seen enough.”
See below.
