Abuja-Kaduna train attack: Abducted passengers beg FG to meet terrorists’ demands (Video)

Abducted passengers on the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna shuttle train attacked by terrorists, penultimate Monday evening, of March 28, have appealed to both the Federal and the Kaduna State governments to meet the demands of their abductors and act accordingly.

The videos separately uploaded to the YouTube channel showed about 15 terrorists lined up behind about 30 of the hostages believed to have been captured during the train attack in Kaduna.

The terrorist conducting the interviews appear to be speaking impeccable English with no accent, previously associated with bandits operating in the North West region.

It is also believed that the attackers of the Abuja-Kaduna train shuttle may have been terrorists from the North East who infiltrated Kaduna to carry out the operation.

Although it is not known the exact demands of the terrorists, however, it may not be unconnected to the release of other terrorists held in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Only last week, a hostage captured during the train attack, the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Ali-Hassan, was freed after his family reportedly paid N100 million as ransom, even as the terrorists claimed he was released as ‘we felt pity on him because of the month of Ramadan.’

In the latest series of videos obtained, the freed Ali-Hassan appeared in one of them, lending credence to some of the videos having been shot at an earlier dates.

“We are the train passengers that left Abuja for Kaduna on the 27th of March, 2022,” one of the captives is heard saying.

“On our way, we were attacked and abducted. And between that time and now, only we know the kind of condition we have been in. There are mothers and toddlers amongst us. There are old, sickly people. Many of us are sick. We are in a very difficult and painful situation.  And so we are calling on our friends and families, and the government too, to do something urgently.”

One of the middle-aged women identified herself as Gladys, an ex-staff of the Defense Industry, Kaduna.

“What happened on Monday was needless,” she said, as she also urged the government to give a listening ear to their captors.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) confirmed that 22 passengers on the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna shuttle train attacked by terrorists, Monday night of March 28, were abducted by the attackers.

Eight people were confirmed killed and 26 others injured in the attack, with over 100 unaccounted for.

 It would be recalled that a Kaduna-bound train, which left Abuja 6pm on last week Monday, was attacked by suspected terrorists around 7.45 pm, with just 15 minutes drive left for it to arrive Kaduna.

The terrorist had reportedly planted explosives believed to be IEDs on the rail track around Katari, Kaduna state which caused the Kaduna-bound train to derail from track.

It was gathered that the train which took off around 6 pm from the Idu train station at the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja on Monday hit an explosive device about 30 minutes to Rigasa train station in Kaduna.

However, Managing Director of NRC, Mr Fidet Okhiria, in a statement, said 146 of the confirmed 362 passengers onboard the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna train are unreachable six days after the train was attacked by terrorists.

He, however, said the number of safe passengers had risen to 186.

Okhiria said 51 phone numbers on the manifest are either switched off or unreachable since Tuesday morning and 35 phone numbers on the manifest are ringing, but no response from the other end.

He also noted that 60 phone numbers on the manifest when called, responded non-existent.

The NRC boss clarified that 22 persons are reported missing by their relatives and eight persons were confirmed dead.

The terrorists had declared in a video posted by the assailants last Wednesday that the government knew what they wanted and threatened to murder the victims if their demands were not granted.

The video was created in response to the release of one of the victims, Mr Alwan Hassan, Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture.

According to one of the terrorists, who spoke in Hausa, the MD was freed owing to his age and in the spirit of Ramadan.

“We are the group that recently abducted passengers on the train. Among them is this man that has been pleading with us due to his old age and we felt pity on him because of the month of Ramadan, so, we want to give him back to his family,” they said in the video.

Another bandit, who was amongst others in military uniform, concurred with what their leader said, and asked the FG not to investigate them, else, the victims will be killed.

He said, “I want to reiterate that what he said is true. Don’t try to try to investigate us immediately or to rescue them because killing them is not an issue for us.

“We don’t want your money, if we wanted money, we wouldn’t have carried out the attack. You know what we want”.

However, upon the release of the Bank of Agriculture’s Managing Director, Hassan, reports emerged that the terrorists had received N100 million from the family of Hassan to free the bank boss who was abducted during the attack on the train, Monday night.

A source close to the family said Ali-Hassan was released after paying a ransom of N100 million.

The terrorists had initially demanded a ransom of N200 million.

The source added that a mansion belonging to the BOA boss was sold to raise the money.

“They sold his house for millions to pay his ransom. They collected N100 million, though they initially asked for N200 million.

“The house was sold for more than N100 million but we are happy he is back with us. According to him, those who abducted him were not normal Fulani bandits but Boko Haram members judging by their accent,” the source said.