Relatives of the 63 passengers who were kidnapped on the Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28 have perfected plans to hold a rally in protest against the government’s failure to rescue the victims from their abductors.
The families plan to hold the protests on major streets and also occupy key government facilities in Abuja and Kaduna. Most of the victims are residents in either of the two cities.
Representatives of the families made the disclosure to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, saying they were worried about the horrible experience their loved ones would have passed through in the captivity of the terrorists.
One of the victims was shot by their abductors earlier this week in unclear circumstances. The kidnappers had earlier threatened to start killing them because of the government’s failure to meet their demands.
The victims would be spending 100 days in the kidnappers’ den by next Tuesday.
There have been reports that the victims are sick, with some of them suffering from snakebites and gunshot wounds.
Dr. Abdulaziz Atta, whose aged mother and sister are among the captives, announced that representatives of the victims’ families would occupy public facilities until their loved ones are rescued.
“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 health of the person that has gunshot wounds.
“There are no antibiotics; nobody to remove the bullets from his body. Just imagine the current situation he would 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. From the statement that was released by 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. 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 our loved ones should be out. We have kids, as you have heard earlier on, as young as three years old. From the feedback we had, these kids are unattended to. We have women who have been injured. 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 having sitings in key government 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 briefing. The media have been excellent to us. But now, we are going to move out physically for people to see us on the streets,” he said.
