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.