After 121 days in captivity, terrorists that abducted passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28, have released another three victims in their custody.
This was coming barely 24 hours after the terrorists released a fresh video where they threatened to abduct the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd), the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, senators, and other government officials, and make them sit on the grass (forest) the way those taken hostages were currently seated.
The PUNCH reported that the terrorists had early June, released 11 out of the 61 victims of the abducted train passengers remaining 50 hostages, and with the release of another seven early July, 43 of the captives were still in the terrorists’ den.
Mallam Tukur Mamu, one of the negotiators and Media Consultant to controversial Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, who disclosed this, said through his singular efforts on Sunday, that the released hostages were reunited with their families late Saturday evening.
The seven hostages reunited with their families are Bosede Olurotimi, Abubakar Zubairu, Alhassan Sule and Sadiq Ango Abdullahi, Muhammad Daiyabu Paki, Aliyu Usman as well as only foreign national of Pakistani origin, Dr. Muhammad Abuzar Afzal.
However, The PUNCH gathered that on Monday, at about 11 am, the terror group believed to be part of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, released the three victims, which included two males and a female.
The families of the three released victims were silent on whether a ransom was paid or not before they were set free by the terrorists after spending 121 days in captivity.
But a security source confided in one of our correspondents in Kaduna on Monday that the released victims’ families paid N100m each for the release of their loved ones.
“What I can tell you now is that the bandits have freed three victims of the abducted passengers. Those three released by them (bandits) include two males and a female. Each of those released paid N100m,” he said.
With the release of the third batch of three victims, whose identities have not been declared, 40 victims are still in the custody of the terrorists, having earlier set free 18 victims.
The PUNCH had reported that on March 28, 2022, terrorists planted explosives devices along the rail track and when the Abuja-Kaduna bound AK-9 passenger train approached the point, the device exploded, causing the train to derail, leading to the death of eight passengers.
THE PUNCH
