From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
It was supposed to be a journey of two hours, from Kaduna to Abuja, but it has lasted over 100 days and counting.
Worse still, nobody knows the condition they are in but what is certain is that their situation is akin to walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
When 39 students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, were kidnapped on March 11, 2021, and spent 55 days in the kidnappers’ den, many residents thought that was the longest period anyone could stay in hoodlums’ captivity in the state.
However, the abducted passengers of Kaduna-bound train have so far beaten that record with more than 100 days in captivity, even as there is no indication when they will br freed.
The passengers were abducted on March 28, 2022, but 11 of them were released recently, leaving behind 50 in the terrorists’ den.
The seemingly endless stay in captivity has been a great worry to the family members of the abducted passengers, causing them sleepless nights, as the kidnappers refused to demand for ransom.
“They sleep in the open, under the sun, under the rain and exposed to environmental challenges as well as health hazards,” the family members disclosed.
Surprisingly, reports said the kidnappers have not made any demand for ransom as a precondition to release the abductees since their days in captivity. However, it was gathered that the terrorists once requested that their eight children arrested and locked up in Yola, Adamawa State, by the Federal Government should be freed before they (terrorists) could release the train passengers held hostage.
However, worried beyond consolation, families and friends of the abductees last Wednesday staged a peaceful protest on major streets of Kaduna and appealed to security agencies and President Muhammadu Buhari to step up efforts in securing the release of the remaining hostages.
Despite the release of the 11 abductees, the family members said they could know no joy until all their loved ones are freed.
The family members said they were ready to do anything, including committing suicide, to have their loved ones back home from inhuman conditions in the forests.
At a point, it was gathered that the kidnappers communicated with the families of the abductees, promising to sponsor a press conferences for them over their appeal to the Federal Government to secure the freedom of their loved ones. But the family members declined the offer, saying that all they wanted was the freedom of their loved ones.
Some children of the hostages keep on asking, “When is daddy coming back? When is mummy coming back?”
Keeping to their threat to stage a peaceful protest, the embattled families, relatives and friends, last Wednesday, held a peaceful street protest in Kaduna to demand the immediate release of the victims, begging President Buhari to facilitate the freedom of the abductees.
As early as 7.30am, the protesters were at the Nagwamatse House, located along Ali Akilu Road, Kaduna, holding placards with different inscriptions, calling for the immediate release of the remaining abducted train passengers.
At 8.05am, the protesters, marched along major streets in the metropolis, chanting: “Release our loved ones. We are begging President Buhari, in the name of God, to help us.”
Addressing journalists shortly after the peaceful protest, the leader of the family forum, Dr. Abdulfatai Jimoh, said: “Today is exactly 100 days since our loved ones were abducted. It was meant to be a journey of two hours, however, it turned out to be 100 harrowing days. Since then, things have not been the same with us.
“One can not imagine what our loved ones are going through in this last 100 days in the deep forest, the same clothes, no clean water to drink and no medical care. Many of them are sick; one has even been shot and injured. We don’t know his condition now.
“We have been talking to the government; we have been appealing to them in the last 100 days to rescue our loved ones. But, so far, we have not seen much.
“It is really very disappointing. we are appealing again to the government to do all that is necessary to bring out our love ones in the shortest time possible.
“If you remember, our love ones spent their Easter in the bush, the Eid el-fitr in the bush. Today, we are just three days away from Eid el-Kabir. We are praying they will spend the Eid el-Kabir with us. This is our hope and prayer.
“We want government to do all that is necessary. We know it is possible. They can do it, they should do it, please.
“It is a responsibility they owe us as Nigerian citizens. We are citizens in our country. We should be free to move everywhere. We should be protected.
“We have surrendered our sovereignty. We have surrendered our security to the government and it is incumbent on them to do what is necessary to protect us; our loved ones are in captivity for 100 days now. we are appealing to Mr. President and his security chiefs to do what is necessary within their powers.
“We know they can do it, and should do it for us, please, in the name of God. We are all vulnerable to this situation. We are expecting them to do it in the next few hours, by the special grace of God, not even days. We know they are on it; they should conclude it.”
Meanwhile, Senator Shehu Sani appears to be the only political stakeholder in Kaduna State that has shown empathy with the victims of the train attack. He volunteered to join the street protest for the release of abducted Kaduna train passengers
Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the Eighth Senate, is also the president, Civil Rights Congress (CRC). He called on government to “act now, and not later, for the sake of the lives of victims, who are suffering untold hardship in the forest.”
Speaking during a private meeting with the family members of the victims in Kaduna, Sani said: “As long as they remain under hostage in hands of terrorists, the people of northwestern Nigeria and the whole country will never be free and comfortable.
“You can imagine an 85-year-old mother living in a forest, in a rainy season like this, having to contend with wild animals and serpents in the forest. Our comfort and safety is tied to freedom of these hostages.
“It is unimaginable that a nation with a population of over 200 million people, with such ernomous investment in security and defence, but it is so impossible to get the hostages out.
“Their lives are our lives. Their situation reflects the situation in the country. If they can’t sleep, we can’t sleep.
“For three months, we have all been put under tension because of the situation of these abducted mothers, sisters, brothers and children.”
He, however, commend the efforts of the negotiators and urge them never to relent until all abductees are released.
“What is very clear to each and every one of us is that the life of each and every hostage is more important than any price we are going to pay to get them out. There is no price that is too much to get this hostages out of captivity.
“The terrorists have made their demands and I believe it is not too much for the Federal Government to do all that is needed to get this hostages out of captivity,” Sani said.