By Bolaji Ogundele, Gbenga Omokhunu, Faith Yahaya, Abuja; AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna and Alao Abiodun
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Train attack: Insurgents threaten to attack President, Kaduna governor
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Govt won’t succumb to propaganda, says Presidency
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Victims’ families protest today
Amid outcry over the latest viral video by terrorists, the Presidency yesterday reassured Nigerians that the military was on the red alert.
A group of terrorists, who abducted passengers of a Kaduna-bound train on March 28, had in the video, vowed to kidnap Nigerian leaders, including President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.
They also threatened to kill some of the 43 train passengers in their custody and sell off the others as slaves.
The video, which showed the terrorists flogging the male captives while the women and children amongst them wept, elicited outbursts, especially by some relatives of the victims.
The angry and worried relatives vowed to occupy public properties in Abuja today over what they described as the government’s tardiness in freeing their loved ones.
The terrorists had on the day of the attack killed nine passengers and whisked away about 63 others.
About 20 of the hostages were released at different times after payment of ransom, leaving 43 in captivity.
In a statement yesterday titled: “Latest version of terror propaganda and military readiness,” the Presidency said “security forces are not relenting” in their efforts to defeat criminal elements.
The statement by President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu said the President had done the needful for the Armed Forces and was, therefore, waiting on them “to deliver victory to Nigerians.”
It pointed out that “terrorist activity using propaganda and the use of violence to force governments to accept or submit to political demands are not new all over the world.”
The Presidency, therefore, urged the public, especially the mainstream media to help the government curb the abusive exploitation of social media by terrorists.
It also dismissed the calls for carpet bombing of the hideouts of bandits because it could lead to the deaths of their victims.
The statement reads: “The Presidency, in the meantime, wishes to reassure the public that the President has done all, and even more than what is expected of him as Commander-in-Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military and expects nothing short of good results in the immediate.
“Terrorist activity using propaganda and the use of violence to force governments to accept or submit to political demands are not new all over the world.
“The country’s security and defence forces are not clueless or helpless. They have their plans and ways of doing things which they will not display in the media.
“The dilemmas in dealing with the specific case of train terrorists are manifold: punitive action like the popular call for carpet bombing of the known locations may assuage the desire of an angry public for revenge, but what about the hostages? They have committed no offence. All they did was board a train.
“It suffices to say that the security forces are not relenting. They are acutely aware of their duties, responsibilities and what the nation expects of them.
“Whenever they embark upon those actions, they expect that the public should provide them with the needed support.
“To help the nation against the ongoing situation, the media must increase their support for the fight against the exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes.”
In their new video, the terrorists boasted in Hausa that they would destroy Nigeria, kill some of the remaining passengers and sell off others as slaves if the government fails to meet their demands.
Their spokesperson said: “The government set up one useless committee to negotiate the release of these people. The committee members are there in Abuja just taking tea.
“Already, we know they are just buying time. Their plan is to use force to rescue the hostages, but that is not possible. We that we are looking at your (government’s) weapons and fighter jets are not more than mere spider webs.
“We are on the path of God and we don’t fear anybody. We put our lives on the lines to follow the instructions of God.
“So, you should know that, like we have promised you before, if you don’t take urgent action, this place will turn into an abattoir.
“This is our message to the government of Nigeria and just as you have seen these people here, by God’s grace, you will see your leaders; your senators and governors will come before us.”
Pointing at the captives as some of his gang members carried out the flogging, he boasted: “ These ones you are seeing here, we will keep some as our slaves and sell them off just as our Imam told you in the past.
“Just like the Chibok girls that were sold off, we will equally sell these ones as slaves. If you don’t adhere to our demands, we will kill the ones we need to kill and sell the remaining. By God’s grace, El-Rufai, Buhari, we will bring you here.”
One of the captives was seen in the video, saying the terrorists did not plan to keep them for more than a week, except for the laxity of the Federal Government in meeting their demands.
He lamented that the government was stopping their relatives from paying ransom to secure their release.
The victim called on the international community and the United Nations to come to their rescue.
Worried family members of the captives said they can no longer cope with the silence of the government and security agencies.
One of them, who did not want his name in print, said: “We will protest the continuous stay of our loved ones in terrorists’ den tomorrow (today) and we hope the government still has listening ears.
“We are helpless at this point. They need to assure us that our loved ones will be rescued soon. The wait is longer than we envisaged and it is affecting other aspects of our lives.”
Evelyn Asiribo, whose husband is among the captives, said the latest video had thrown her family into more pain.
“Since I saw the video, the emotional torture I have been going through has doubled. My children have been without their father for over 100 days and it is not an experience I wish for my enemies, she said.
A Twitter user, who said his sibling is also in captivity, said: “I’m really disappointed. My brother went for his national youth service documentation, thinking he will serve his Fatherland. Now, they’re being tortured every day.”
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Muhammad Bello expressed sadness over the rising cases of kidnapping and other violent crimes in the territory.
Bello called for organised community policing within the FCT communities and area councils.
He spoke when a delegation of the Council of Chiefs of the Pai Chiefdom in Kwali Area Council of the FCT, led by the Magajin Pai, Bawa Yahaya, visited him.
The minister said: “We have tried as much as possible to encourage community policing in the FCT but we have not had success.
“The challenge we faced, especially with the community policing issue, is that many of the communities were just waiting for the Federal Government or maybe the state and in our own case, the FCT Administration to pay for everything.”