Train Attack: Terrorists Release Oldest Victim, Daughter, 2 Others

Four more victims of the March 28 train attack including the oldest hostage, her daughter and two others have been released by their abductors.

A mediator, Malam Tukur Mamu (Dan Iyan Fika) stated this in a press release yesterday, adding that the released victims were in his office to thank him for his efforts to mediate on their behalf and for convincing their abductors to drop the threat of executing them and to plead with all stakeholders, especially the federal government, to intensify efforts as the condition of the remaining 23 victims they left in the forest is pathetic.

Mamu who is the publisher of Desert Herald Newspaper, said; “Among those that were released on Friday was the oldest victim, a grandmother, Mama Halimatu Atta. She is 90 years old, her daughter, a 53 year old married woman, Adama Atta Aliyu, (the woman that was shown in the last video protesting and challenging her captors and lamenting failure to secure their release). The victim that first suggested my name to the abductors as one of those to be contacted to mediate between them and the federal government, Mohammed Sani Abdulmaji (M.S Ustaz) and a Sokoto indigene, Alhaji Modin Modi Bodinga.

“This is to also alert the federal government and especially the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that I can confirm through credible information at my disposal that if urgent action is not taken to immediately secure the release of the youngest victim of the train attack, 21-year-old Azurfa Lois John, the abductors as they have done in the case of Leah Sharibu are planning to marry her any moment from now.

“One of the top commanders is said to be in love with her. This important information should be treated with the urgency it deserves. Even though I know that releasing this information will not only unsettle her immediate family and loved ones but Nigerians as a whole, it is necessary to do so to avoid the repeat of Leah Sharibu’s case.

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“I advise CAN in particular not to politicise this issue or reduce it to mere press releases as I had seen in the past but to work closely with relevant authorities to engage the abductors on her case as soon as possible before it is late.  I pray that in view of the uncertainties which are becoming alarming, the federal government will also act very fast to ensure the release of all the remaining victims,” he stated.

In a related development, troops of Operation Forest Sanity of the Nigerian Army yesterday foiled a kidnap attempt and rescued three kidnapped victims in Ungwan Madaki, Chikun local government area of Kaduna State.

The commissioner, internal security and home affairs, Samuel Aruwan, in a statement said the incident was reported to the Kaduna State government in an operational feedback by security officers following the rescue mission in response to a distress call from the area.

Aruwan said according to the security report, the troops arrived the area and engaged the bandits, forcing them to flee and abandon their victims, adding that three victims were rescued by the troops including Elkanah Eli, his daughter and one Mr Yahaya.

He said the state government received the feedback with gratitude and praised the troops for their swift response and successful rescue of the victims who have been reunited with their families.