.
By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo
THE families of the kidnapped victims of the Abuja-Kaduna bound train released on Saturday by the abductors, have raised the alarm that the freed victims are mentally unstable, sick, traumatized and still hospitalized.
Chairman of the victims’ families in Kaduna, Dr Abdulfatah Jimoh, whose wife was among the 11 victims released by the terrorists, pleaded with the Federal Government to hasten the process of negotiation with the terrorists so that the remaining 50 victims could regain their freedom as they are seriously traumatized in the forest.
They however appreciated the Federal Government and other stakeholders’ at rescuing the 11 of their 61 train passengers.
He said “Today being the 77th day after the abduction of our loved ones in the AK-9 Abuja-Kaduna Train, we are here to express our appreciation to God Almighty and thank Mr. President, the Service Chiefs, and other Nigerians for the efforts at ensuring the release of 11 of our loved ones.
“We are also saying that, we still have 50 of our loved ones in captivity and we are praying that very soon, they will also be released and reunited with us. Those that were released are still receiving treatment in the hospital. They had gone through a lot of trauma for 77 days, mental trauma, psychological trauma and mental torture. They are mentally unstable. So, they are still recuperating. We hope very soon, they will come back to their normal selves.
“Some of those still in captivity are sick according to information available to us. So, we are appealing to the Federal Government to ensure they are rescued as soon as possible. Even those that are not physically sick are not in good mental status, so everyone in there needs to come out as soon as possible, every one more day they spend there is a day of trauma. We are hoping, praying and appealing that all of them are rescued in the shortest possible time.”
Speaking, Rakiya Lawal Othman whose sister was among the 11 that regained freedom, is still disturbed because her brother is among the 50 captives still in the kidnappers’ den.
“Even my sister that was released wept uncontrollably when she was told by the terrorist that she was leaving our brother behind in the forest,” she said.
The Federal Government, she said, should speed up the process of negotiation with the terrorists so that all the remaining victims would be freed and join their respective families soon.
