Terrorists, who abducted scores of passengers on the AK9 Abuja-Kaduna bound Train on Monday, March 28, 2022, on Friday, released four more kidnap victims from their captivity.
With the latest development, there are 23 passengers still in captivity.
One-time negotiator for the release of the abducted passengers and Kaduna-based newspaper publisher, Malam Tukur Mamu (Dan Iyan Fika), disclosed this in a statement sent to LEADERSHIP.
“I can confirm that earlier on Friday, four additional victims of the train attack were released by their abductors.
“The four released victims just left my office. They said they came collectively to thank me for the past efforts I made to mediate on their behalf and for convincing their abductors to drop the threats of executing them and to plead for all stakeholders especially the federal government to intensify efforts as the condition of the remaining 23 victims they left at the forest is pathetic,” Mamu said.
The lucky passengers include the oldest kidnap victim, who is a 90-year-old grandmother, Mama Halimatu Atta.
Also released with her was her 53-year-old daughter, Adama Atta Aliyu.
Others were Mohammed Sani Abdulmaji (M.S Ustaz) and a Sokoto State indigene, Alhaji Modin Modi Bodinga.
Meanwhile, Mamu, who is a media consultant to the popular Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to immediately do something about the plight of a 12-year-old passenger, Azurfa Lois John, who is still in captivity alongside 22 others.
Mamu said according to information at his disposal, the terrorists are threatening to marry off the young girl if nothing is immediately done to rescue her from captivity.
“This is to 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, a 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. I advise CAN in particular not to politicise this issue or reduce it to mere press releases as I have 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 is becoming alarming, the federal government will also act very fast to ensure the release of all the remaining victims,” Mamu added.
