Train Attack: Terrorists May Execute Abducted Victims If Govt Don’t Meet Their Demands — Mediator, Tukur Mamu Says

The risks of executing the abducted passengers of the Kaduna- Abuja train passengers are getting higher, should the Federal government relax in its efforts to rescue the victims from their captors, says Tukur Mamu.

Mamu who is the Media Consultant of the Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Gumi and frontline mediator between relevant stakeholders and the captors made this assertion in a telephone conversation with THE WHISTLER.

Advertisement

His statement followed the suspended threats by captors of the train passengers to execute over 60 abductees in their enclave, latest May 30, if the government ignore their demands.

Mamu, whom the terrorists had “chosen” to communicate their demands to the federal government told this website the relevance of meeting the demands of the captors.

“It is important that we remove them (victims) from that kind of terrible condition they are in. The place they are been kept; human beings are not supposed to be kept there.

“So, something has to be done and the only success will be from the government and whether we like it or not, painful compromise must be made and if they do not make that painful compromise, I tell you, we are dealing with people with misguided ideologies.

Advertisement

“We are dealing with people that feel if they die today, they are going to paradise. So, they will not mind collateral damage and if there be collateral damage, it will be to our disadvantage because we have very promising and successful people in that place,” he said.

The terrorists are demanding the release of eight children currently in the custody of security agencies in Jemeta, Adamawa State and the exchange of victims with imprisoned commanders also in the custody of the government.

The captors on May 23, threatened to execute their victims in seven days if the children are not released, but later suspended the threat on Saturday after confirming proof of life. They gave the government additional two weeks to meet their demands.

Manu said these demands were not unprecedented as security agencies are privy to such an engagement.

There is an attempt by the Nigerian parliament to prohibit ransom payment through a bill: Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2021, which has crossed its second reading.

Advertisement

The bill, which seeks to substitute Section 14 of the Principal Act, reads: “Anyone who transfers funds, makes payment or colludes with an abductor, kidnapper or terrorist to receive any ransom for the release of any person who has been wrongfully confined, imprisoned or kidnapped, is guilty of a felony and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years.”

The move had received backlashes from legal experts and other stakeholders describing it as dead on arrival and one tantamount to the ancillary punishment of the victims

But Mamu said, “This type of exchange is not new in the world. It is not only in Nigeria. the most powerful nations have done it before now, so I don’t see any reason why a responsible government will not do something that will save lives,” he noted.

He said the situation has come to a point where opening the room for negotiation is the only “painful” and “compromising” prerequisite for the sanctity of human lives.

“Certainly, for any quality decision that the government will take, there will be implications and that is why there are professionals in that field who will articulate and analyse which is the best possible way to handle it.

“The federal government must explore other possible means to discourage such criminality in the country, and that cannot be achieved without justice and with massive corruption in the system and that of security agencies.”

Leave a comment

Advertisement