Bandits release 4 more Kaduna-Abuja train victim

 

.As IGP allays fears of FCT residents, deploy additional officers,  assets

.15 Enugu abducted farmers regain freedom after paying N2m ransom

 

 

Jonas Ezieke, Abuja and Cosmas Chukwu

 

The abductors of Kaduna-Abuja rail passengers on Tuesday released four more captives.

 

Bandits had on March 28, 2022, abducted over 60 Kaduna-Abuja train passengers after killing 14 and wounding several others.

 

 

 

The abducted passengers have since been released in batches.

 

 

 

However, a family source of one of the victims told journalists, that among those released on Tuesday, included Professor Mustapha Umar Imam, a medical doctor at the Usman Dan Fodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUS), Sokoto.

 

Imam was reportedly shot while in captivity but was among those released on Tuesday.

 

Other passengers who were released are Akibu Lawal, Abubakar Ahmed Rufai, Muktar Shuaibu, and Sidi Aminu Sharif.

 

Kaduna-based Publisher, Tukur Mamu, who has backed out of the negotiations for fear of his life confirmed the latest release.

 

DSP Mohammed Jalige did not pick up his phone for confirmation.

 

Meanwhile, The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba has allayed the fears of residents in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs concerning the recent perceived security threats as he ordered massive deployment of additional police operatives and operational assets within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs to solidify the security and protection of lives and property of its residents, critical national assets and vulnerable facilities as well as road users plying routes in and around the FCT.

 

The IGP made the charge during the Force Management Team’s meeting at his office on Monday, August 1st, 2020, while receiving general security updates on the nation.

 

He has equally charged the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Department of Operations, DIG Bala Zama Senchi, to supervise and manage the deployment to ensure maximum security in the FCT as well as surrounding states with a high risk of attacks resonating from the threats being speculated on the news, as the Force does not and will never handle any information with kid gloves. The IGP however cautioned members of the public, especially citizen-journalists, on the dangers of spreading false alarms, misinformation, and disinformation as they could be detrimental and counter-productive to national security.

 

In the same vein, the Inspector-General of Police has assured Nigerians in general, and residents of the FCT in particular, of their safety and security, while urging them to go about their lawful duties without fear of attacks.

 

According to a statement issued by the Force Spokesman CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, the Police boss equally reiterated the firm determination of the Police leadership to continue to explore avenues to enhance the security architecture in the country, through intelligence gathering, operational deployments and application of cutting-edge technology to decimate the activities of criminal elements across the country.

 

In another development,  It was a joyous relief when 15 farmers from Mgbuji What Amufu who had been kidnapped by Fulani terrorists a couple of weeks ago were released by their captors.

 

It was like a dream come when the fifteen farmers kidnapped in Mgbuji Eha-Amufu Community in Isi-Uzo local government area of Enugu State on July 18, 2022, by gunmen  regained their freedom.

 

A N2 million ransom was reportedly paid to secure their freedom from the bandits.

 

The spokesman of Mgbuji Community, Chijioke Ogbodo, confirmed their release to our correspondent by telephone on Tuesday.

 

While lamenting the constant attack of gunmen he believed to be Fulani militias on the community, Ogbodo said that their abductors demanded N30 million but what the families were able to contribute was N2 million.

 

“After so many pleas, because the security agencies abandoned us, they (the gunmen) accepted to collect what we have. So, last week, they were able to accept the two million naira and released them. We thank God that no one was harmed,” Ogbodo said.

 

It was  reported that gunmen masquerading as herdsmen abducted 15 farmers near Mgbuji town while they were going to their farms.

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen in police and military uniforms had on July 5 kidnapped seven residents of the same community and killed three others.

Mgbuji and neighbouring communities in Eha-Amufu have been constantly attacked by marauding herders since September 2021.

So many people had been killed, and several houses and properties worth millions of naira had been destroyed. So many others were equally kidnapped for ransom.

 

 

Meanwhile, efforts to get a reaction from the Enugu State Police Command were unsuccessful as the Command’s spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, didn’t take his calls.