Seven of the Abuja-Kaduna train kidnap victims have regained their freedom, Saturday.
The lead negotiator in the release of earlier victims of the train attack and media consultant to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, Malam Tukur Mamu singlehandedly secured the release of seven more kidnapped train passengers.
Last week, Mamu announced his withdrawal from the negotiation team with the terrorists due to the alleged government unseriousness.
According to him, he had return to the negotiation due to cries and pleas by the family members of the victims.
The Network gathered that the victims who regained their freedom on Saturday were Bosede Olurotimi, Abubakar Zubairu, Alhassan Sule and Sadiq Ango Abdullahi.
Other passengers were Muhammad Daiyabu Paki, Aliyu Usman and a foreign national of Pakistani origin, Dr. Muhammad Abuzar Afzal.
The release of the victims was confirmed by Tukur Mamu. Mamu was in the forefront for the negotiation and the release of the earlier 11 victims.
Speaking to Journalists in Kaduna, Mamu said the seven released victims was “a success”.
According to him, the Saturday’s release vindicated Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Gumi about what the power of mediation can achieve.
“I have sufficient evidence to prove that they do listen. It is this power of engagement and sincerity that resulted to the release of this 7 victims
“In whatever I do I don’t need or require any reward from anybody but from Allah but I hope the nation we sacrificed our lives for will recognize us.”
“The 7 rescued victims have been handed over to the military and are now on their way to Kaduna.I thank the Kaduna military GOC for the support he gave during the rescue mission
“The location they (abductors) gave is remote, sensitive and risky. There was a military checkpoint before penetrating the forest.
“My team was stopped by the soldiers but when they told the military our mission they contacted the GCO and he immediately gave approval for them to proceed
“And after the victims were successfully evacuated, travelling through over 40 kilometers in the forest, they were given a military escort back to Kaduna at the checkpoint”
”Despite the poor medical condition of many of the rescued victims, those that took over are unnecessarily wasting their time in a military unit at the outskirts of Kaduna .I advice that authorities should hasten effort to take them to a medical facility for urgent evaluation.”
“The seven rescued victims are in the best position to confirm …… Money cannot achieve what I have done today. And I will never involve myself on any issue that has to do with money
“I am also under serious watch. I am sure if they have evidence against me I cannot be talking freely the manner I used to do.”
” However, this is no time for blame game. We must come together as a nation to confront our challenges. I pray and hope that government will learn a lot of lessons in the development of today. We thank Allah that He uses us to make many happy
“I’m pleading with the families of the remaining victims to actively engage government to secure the release of their loved ones. I will not be involved in such a risky mission again,” he said.
