Based on expectations, all the abducted passengers of the March 2022 Abuja-Kaduna bound train that was attacked by terrorists would have by now regained their freedom if their abductors had not reneged on an agreement they stroke with the Federal Government, PRNigeria has exclusively gathered.
It also gathered that there was an agreement between the government and the leadership of the terror group behind the attack to swap the abducted train passengers with some arrested terrorists held in detention by Nigerian security agencies.
Checks indicate that the terrorists rather than abide with the deal it freely entered and accepted, are now engaged in exploiting the situations to extort ransom from victims’ families.
A highly-placed source in one of the intelligence agencies said that the government took every possible step, but not including ransom payment to secure the release of the train attack victims.
The source, who did not want his name in print, explained that the government adopted a swapping deal for the rescue of the train victims to avoid likely collateral damages from military operations.
According to him, the security service in an exchange programme released at least about 30 detained family members of terrorists, mostly women and children.
According to the source; “In fact, a spouse who delivered twins in custody safely was handed over to her parents. But, rather than abiding by the swapping deal agreement, the terrorists, reneged and only released eleven passengers instead of all the 63 kidnapped victims
“Apart from reneging on the agreement, they were releasing victims in batches in the most dubious and compromising manner.
“They are now exploiting the situations to extort victims’ families for ransom payments, while other elements are exploiting the same for political gains.
“They are aware that we have the exact coordinates of their locations but we are not authorised to strike because of the fear of collateral damages that could trigger massive outcry by human rights activists and even the media if we succeed in doing so,” the source said.
