The terrorists are, however, holding on to other passengers including a seven months old pregnant woman, a diabetic patient, children and other helpless persons
The terrorists that abducted passengers in the bombed Kaduna-bound train have released the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) managing director, Alwan Ali-Hassan on the ground that he is old, according to a trending video.
The terrorists attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train on March 28, 2022, killing at least nine people with many others injured. They also abducted 168 passengers in exchange for what they claimed is not money. They said the government was aware of their demand. But a report by Daily Nigerian revealed that the family of Al-Hassan paid N100 million in ransom to secure his release.
In a video circulating on social media, one of the terrorists, who spoke in the Hausa language, said they decided to have mercy on the BOA MD in the spirit of the Ramadan season and his age.
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“We are responsible for the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train and we are allowing the man to go because of his age and in the spirit of Ramadan.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. We are not after money and the government knows what we want,” he said.
The terrorists asked the BoA MD who was flanked by the heavily armed terrorists if he had anything to add. He confirmed that they were releasing him on compassionate grounds because of his age and in the spirit of Ramadan.
The BoA MD, who was directed to speak in the video before his release, pleaded with the government to listen to the terrorists so that other captives can be released.
He said: “There are many captives with our abductors here and out of pity because of my age, they decided to release me and due to the month of Ramadan, I am appealing to the government to save the lives of other with them.”
Meanwhile, Arise Television interviewed some family members whose wards are among the people abducted on the train. One of them said a woman carrying seven-month-old pregnancy, another older woman who is diabetic, children and other helpless persons were among the abducted passengers.
