100 days: Families of train attack victims threaten to occupy govt facilities in Kaduna, Abuja

The relatives and friends of passengers captured on on the Kaduna-bound train have threatened to occupy key government facilities in Kaduna and Abuja to demand for the rescue of their loved ones.

While addressing a press conference in Kaduna, they said they were worried and scared of losing their families in captivity, especially with reports of snake bites and gunshot injury.

Speaking on behalf of the families, Dr. Abdulaziz Atta, whose aged mother and sister are in captivity, said victims’ families were ready to protest at public facilities until their loved ones are rescued.

According to Atta, “We read from the media 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 the state of health of the person that is injured. There is no antibiotics, 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 loose 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 from Garba Shehu 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, yes 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 women injured, we have aged women and men, those people should be brought out.”

He stated that by next week Tuesday, they would have spent 100 days in captivity adding, “We are planning to do a physical protest. We will be having sit-out in key govt facilities, we plan to sit there till our loved ones are out, so, we are changing our strategies, we will change our strategies from the media 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.”

Earlier, one of the female family members, Hajiya Fatima Chiroma while narrating the family’s ordeal said, “The past 94 days have been days of living in fear, sleep-deprived, wearing the same clothes, under the scorching sun and rain, and exposed to all sorts of hazards for the victims.

“The emotional, psychological, mental, and physical torture arising from these conditions can only be imagined.”

She appealed to the Federal Government to prioritize the quick and safe rescue of the captives.