Release of 23 Kaduna train passengers: A job well done

Last Wednesday afternoon, news filtered in all across the country that the remaining 23 passengers abducted on the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna train over six months ago in late March had been released, courtesy of efforts by a seven-man Presidential Committee assembled by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Leo Irabor.

A little over 24-hours later on Thursday, all the victims of that harrowing experience were united with their families, following a visit to them by President Muhammadu Buhari himself at the Aeromedical Hospital, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base, Kaduna.

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Speaking on the development shortly before his visit to the victims at the passing out parade of the Cadets of 69th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, President Buhari praised the military for the coordinated efforts that led to this happy outcome. He said, “This feat was not achieved without our military, as the interventionist Chief of Defence Staff Action Committee set up by General Leo Irabor was at the centre of the development, along with sister security agencies. I say bravo to our soldiers, officers and gentlemen”. The President then urged the military and other security agencies to “to replicate the successes in the North-east in other parts of the country, and I call on all Nigerians to continue to support our armed forces and security agencies”.

Also, in a statement on the release of the abducted passengers, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, captured the mood of the nation quite aptly: “This is comforting news for the kidnapped victims and all Nigerians who carried them in our hearts, praying and hoping for a resolution to this unfortunate saga. Now begins the process of healing and recovery for the victims and their families. This will not be easy. These victims and their families deserve and will receive the support of this House of Representatives and the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as they work to rebuild their bodies and spirits and restore normalcy to their lives”.

We cannot agree more. Even for a country battling insurgencies of various kinds in the past decade or so, where abductions and kidnappings of citizens for ransom had almost become so banal and brutal, this has been a long-running saga which in anguish and pain is equaled, perhaps, only by the abduction of 276 school girls from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in April 2014.

No doubt, the abduction of the train passengers had become a torn in the flesh of the federal government since the night of 28th March this year, when it occurred. For many Nigerians, the sad incidence came to symbolize the rising level of insecurity that had engulfed various parts of the country, particularly in northern Nigeria, in the past few years. The stoppage of the train service, following the attack, was also interpreted by many as a reversal of some of the lasting gains of the Buhari administration. Above all, that the attack on the train, the killing of eight passengers and abduction of over 60 of them were reportedly carried out by affiliates of Boko Haram also came to indicate the return of the dreaded terrorist organization at a time many Nigerians had come to believe that they had all been decimated.

In this moment of the triumph of life and collective effort, Daily Trust joins the families of all the victims in celebrating the safe return of their loved ones. Our hearts are also with the families of those who were killed on the night of the train attack. We commend the men and leadership of the military and other security agencies for rising to up the difficult, and often impossible, demands of their calling on this and many other occasions. In particular, we commend the Chief of Defence Staff, General Irabor and all the members of his Action Committee for their singular dedication in securing the freedom of all the remaining victims. We hope that the same concerted effort will be deployed in securing the release of victims of previous abductions in Kebbi and Kaduna.

Yet, neither the government nor the security agencies can rest now. While we recognize the government’s successful efforts at securing the release of these victims, and its renewed commitments at tackling insurgencies across the land, we are quick to add that insecurity remains a real challenge in Nigeria as we head to a crucial general election early next year. As President Buhari himself recognized during his speech to the graduating cadet officers in Kaduna last week, Nigeria’s security challenges have evolved considerably over the past two decades or so.

Militancy in the Niger Delta brews under the surface, if in part assuaged by the Amnesty Programme, rampant oil theft, and dubious pipeline security contracts to rival ex-militants. The southeast is growing ever more restive from an increasingly violent separatist agitation. And even though fear of the unknown remains high among residents, a measure of calm is returning to most parts of northern Nigeria as security agencies ramp up operations across the region.

But if this wrenching but ultimately uplifting episode teaches us all one thing, it is that Nigeria’s security challenges are not, at root, military. They are in part echoes of unresolved questions in our nation building project, the result of bad decisions over many decades, and persistent feelings of neglect, real or imagined, among large sections of Nigerian. These challenges, therefore, cannot be resolved conclusively by an approach that relies solely on military might. No nation can shoot its way to peace.