One of the remaining 50 hostages of the abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers, Mohammed Al’Amin, is said to have been shot by the bandits.
The bandits had two weeks ago released 11 out of the 61 victims of the abducted train passengers after almost three months in their custody, remaining 50 hostages still in the den of their captive.
One of the negotiators and media consultants to the Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, Tukur Mamu, who disclosed this, said that based on credible information made available to him, the incident took place on Monday.
According to Mamu, the incident occurred during “friendly exchanges of fire at the forest between the abductors that are guarding the victims and preventing them from possible escape.”
Although he said the victim was critically wounded but still alive and needed medical attention.
Mamu, in the latest edition of his Kaduna-based newspaper, Desert Herald, yesterday, stated that the shooting of one of the hostages could be intentional just for the “purpose of sending a message”.
He added that he pleaded with the terrorists to release the shot victim for access to medication but that they “vehemently refused”.
He maintained that the Federal Government must be prepared to take full responsibility for the failure to act fast in efforts to rescue the remaining 50 hostages before more harm befell them.
He also expressed concern that although there had been constant communication however, the Government had yet to make a decision, adding that it must take “painful decisions to secure the innocent victims alive”.
Mamu had earlier announced his withdrawal from the negotiating team, but the families of the victims had prevailed on him, and his principal (Gumi), to continue to be part of the negotiation. He added that hunger and life-threatening illnesses loomed following the conditions with which the bandits were keeping the hostages.
While expressing concern over the deteriorating health condition of some of the hostages, he called on the government to hasten up steps to “secure their release as soon as possible”.
