Three weeks after, many passengers still in captivity, what attackers want

About 21 days after the attack on a Kaduna-bound train by terrorists, dozens of passengers abducted by the gunmen have not been freed.
The exact number of passengers kidnapped has not been ascertained. However, over a hundred people on the train’s passenger manifest have not been accounted for and are believed to have been kidnapped by the gunmen. One of the victims, a senior government official, who was released by the gunmen is quoted to have said at least 68 passengers were kidnapped.
The gunmen have since released two videos showing some of the passengers.
On Monday, family members of some of the abducted passengers gathered in Abuja and asked the government to save their relatives from the bandits.
Speaking on behalf of other family members, Abdulfatai Jimoh said they were yet to determine the status of the abducted passengers, who have been missing since March 28 – the day of the attack.
“The kidnappers said we should be ready that they are going to contact us. We have not had any communication with them since then,” he said.
“Since this incident happened, we expected that by now, the government, the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the federal ministry of transportation are supposed to have identified relatives of the victims to tell us what efforts they are making or not to rescue our loved ones unhurt.”
On Wednesday, the Nigerian government said it is doing all it can to free the victims. Information minister Lai Mohammed, however, refused to disclose the specific steps the government was taking to free the victims.

Another expert in banditry in the North-west, Yusuf Anka, corroborated Mr Ahmed-Rufai.
“If they needed money in the first place, they would have continued discussing with the family members of the abducted passengers. From what I learnt, some of their key men were being held by the government so it’s possible that they’re demanding a prisoner swap,” the journalist said.
Although the federal government did not state what the specific demands of the bandits are, or what specific efforts are being done to free the victims, it confirmed that the gunmen were now partnering with Boko Haram terrorists.
“What is happening now is that there is a kind of an unholy handshake between bandits and Boko Haram insurgents,” Mr Mohammed said at the Wednesday press briefing after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting.
“Preliminary reports of what transpired at the Kaduna train attacks show that there is a kind of collaboration between the bandits and the dislodged Boko Haram terrorists from the North-east.”
While the government remains coy about its actions, for the family of the victims, their priority is to secure the release of their relatives.

“In fact, the primary duty of any government is to protect the lives and property of citizens. We believe our government can do it and it’s capable of doing it,” Mr Jimoh said.

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