In order to demand the release of their loved ones who have been held captive by the kidnappers for 94 days and counting, relatives and friends of the unfortunate Abuja-Kaduna AK-9 train passengers have promised to seize important government buildings and take over the streets in Abuja and Kaduna.
To mark the 100 days after the bandits assaulted and abducted 63 of their loved ones, they announced that the demonstration would begin on Tuesday.
According to earlier reports, the hostages had been held captive for almost three months until 11 of the 61 victims of the kidnapped train passengers were freed on Saturday, June 11, leaving 50 hostages still held captive.
One of the remaining 50 hostages, Mohammed Al’Amin, was shot by the robbers on Monday, leading to a public outcry for the Federal Government to speed up hostage release discussions.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Kaduna, the relatives expressed their concern that their loved ones were still suffering in the forest in light of tales of snake bites and the gunshot wound the captives had sustained.
Dr. Abdulaziz Atta, whose 85-year-old mother and older sister were among the victims, spoke on behalf of the families and announced that until their loved ones are rescued, family members would stage a sit-down and occupy protest at public buildings.
“We read from the media report that one of our loved ones, Al-Amin was shot and that it was an accidental discharge by one of the non-state actors guarding our loved ones. But the key question now is what is the state of health of the person that has gunshot wounds?
“There are no antibiotics and nobody to remove the bullets from his body. Just imagine the current situation he will be in the bush. He needs urgent support. If he is not brought out of the bush, we may lose him.
“To be fair, we are seeing some of the outcomes of the government’s efforts. We have seen 11 of our loved ones that have been released. And from the press statement that was released by Garba Shehu (the President’s spokesman), on behalf of the President, he made it clear that their children were released to them for us to have our loved ones.
“We heard it from the highest authority. We know that the government is working on it. They are working on it but what we are demanding is that they should hasten their release. Every single moment they spend in the bush is dangerous.
“The agents of government that are involved in this negotiation need to do more. What we want simply is that; we want our loved ones out. We have kids as you have heard earlier on as young as three years old, and from the feedback we had, these kids are unattended to. We have injured women, we have aged women and men; those people should be brought out
“By next week Tuesday, which is going to be 100 days that they have been in captive, we are planning to do a physical protest. We will be sitting in key government facilities. We planned to sit there till our loved ones are out. So, we are changing our strategies. We will change our strategy from the media press conference. The media have been excellent to us but now we are going to move out physically for people to see us on the streets.”
Another female family member, Hajiya Fatima Ciroma, described the 94 days the hostages had spent so far as horrifying.
“The emotional, psychological, mental, and physical torture arising from these conditions can only be imagined,” she added.
She also urged the Federal Government to prioritise the security of the lives and property of Nigerians.
