The terrorists who attacked a Kaduna-bound train last month have released a video of some of the abducted passengers.
The train, which departed Abuja on March 28, 2022, was attacked about 30 minutes to its destination.
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The attackers had bombed the rail track, forcing the train to derail after which they opened fire on the passengers, killing some and abducting others.
In a two-minute footage, at least 10 armed men were seen around some of the passengers, who spoke under duress.
A man believed to be an Asian was seen among the captives. At some point, he stood in front of the camera, but later moved towards some of the victims who laid on the floor.
Dressed in a blue jean and yellow top, a student of Kaduna State University among the victims, appealed to the government for rescue.
“I’m speaking om behalf of the students here. Government should please hear our cry and come to our aid,” she said.
A male voice asked, where are you schooling, to which she replied, “Kaduna State University.”
Which course, the man asked further, and she replied, “Agriculture.”
Another victim gave her name as Gladys Tony, saying she worked at Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria.
“What happened on Monday was needless if the government had listened and acceded to what the populace had been saying,” she said.
Another victim simply identified himself as Adedeji said he was on his way to Kaduna for eye treatment when he was abducted, but he was not allowed to speak further before the camera rolled over to another person.
Alwan Hassan, Acting Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, was also seen in the video. Hassan was released last week.
In a video released on Wednesday, the armed men threatened to kill the passengers if the federal government did not meet their demands.
The video, which was less then two minutes, had four of the bandits with Hassan.
One of them, who spoke in Hausa, said the MD was released due to his age and in the spirit of Ramadan.
“We are the group that kidnapped passengers on the train few days ago. Among them is this man that was pleading with us due to his old age and we felt pity on him due to the month of Ramadan, so, we want to give him back to his family.”
“But the government should not misunderstand this, as it is a gesture we made because of the pity we had on him,” he had said.
The bandits then asked the MD to make some remarks. Speaking briefly, Hassan said he was released out of pity.
“I want to witness to everyone that they took pity on me due to my old age. I was told to go out but I want to assure everyone that I left huge number of people behind and they are in situation that requires help for them to be released fast. I hope that government will meet the head of this group to release as them as soon as possible,” he had said.
The Federal Government has promised not to rest until the abducted victims were rescued.
