This followed a statement by the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, asking Nigerians to assist in raising money to cover the cost of treating the victims of the recent train attack.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (Zone D) has accused the Muhammadu Buhari-led government of disregarding its basic responsibility of protecting the lives of Nigerians.
This followed a statement by the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, asking Nigerians to assist in raising money to cover the cost of treating the victims of the recent train attack.
Nine persons were confirmed dead and 26 injured after terrorists attacked a Kaduna-bound train on Monday evening.
Amaechi, who visited the victims who are being treated at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna on Wednesday, said the army treated them free of charge.
Reacting, Adegboye Emmanuel Olatunji, Coordinator of NANS (Zone D), lambasted the President and his minister, adding that it was embarrassing the statement came from a government that recently donated $1 million to the “terrorist Afghanistan government.”
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had recently commended the Nigerian government for donating one million dollars to the Humanitarian Trust Fund for Afghanistan.
NANS in a statement said, “The Nigerian government through the minister for transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has once again raised a public disgrace, embarrassment and total disregard of its responsibility of protecting the lives of Nigerians through the unpopular statement issued by the minister over the recent attack on Kaduna-Abuja railway.
“We are highly disappointed in the way in which the federal government has been ridiculing our dear nation. Firstly, it is of high disregard to Nigerians who lost their lives and got injured in the attack by the way the Minister emphasised the monetary value of damages over the people affected.
“The government of Buhari regime also compounded the disgrace by asking Nigerians to contribute money for the medical treatment of victims. This statement coming from a government that donated $1 million to the terrorist Afghanistan government, spent billions on Yusuf Buhari’s wedding and other excesses is not only worrisome but also deserves total condemnation.
“We should also point it out that this government therefore has the resources to fund education but deliberately aimed to destroy it. This reaction of the Buhari-led government has further proven that Buhari and his cohorts in Aso Rock have forgotten the basic reason Nigerians voted them into power. This becomes the reason the government has failed to provide security and other basic needs for the Nigerian people. This is the highest form of irresponsibility.
“Essentially, we are demanding that the federal government apologises to the Nigerian people for what its recklessness has caused, and take utmost responsibility to take care of the survivors of the attack with worthy compensation for the family of the dead. This should be consolidated with provision of adequate security for the Nigerian people as a whole.”