With over 30 abductees still in the terrorists dungeon, government is the loser in the game of wits between it and the terrorists over the release of the Abuja-Kaduna passengers the terrorists abducted last March.
All is fair, in love and in war, so says an adage. This played out in the game of wits between government and the terrorists over the release of the train abductees.
Both parties had reached an agreement to swap hostages – government facilitated the setting free of the terrorists in Kuje Custodial Center and, therefore, the terrorists were expected to release all the abducted train passengers.
Consequently, all the abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers would have regained their freedom, according to the agreement, since the terrorists have succeeded in setting free their members from the Kuje Custodial Center.
However, the abductors outwitted government in the game, reneging on an agreement they had reached, leading to over 30 abductees remaining in their captivity, according to PRNigeria investigations.
PRNigeria has found out that there was an agreement between the government and the leadership of the terror group behind the Kuje Custodial Center attack to swap the abducted train passengers with some arrested terrorists held in detention by Nigerian security agencies in the custodial center.
An authoritative source in one of the intelligence agencies in Abuja told PRNigeria that the government took every possible step, but not including ransom payment to secure the release of the train hostages.
The anonymous source explained to PRNigeria that the government chose a swapping deal for the rescue of the train victims to avoid likely collateral damages from military operations.
According to him, the security service in an exchange programme released at least about 30 detained family members of terrorists, mostly women and children.
“In fact, a spouse who delivered twins in custody safely was handed over to her parents,” he said.
But rather than abiding by the swapping deal agreement, the terrorists, the source said, reneged and only released eleven passengers instead of all the 63 kidnapped victims
He said: “Apart from reneging on the agreement, they were releasing victims in batches in the most dubious and compromising manner.
“They are now exploiting the situations to extort victims’ families for ransom payments, while other elements are exploiting the same for political gains.
“They are aware that we have the exact coordinates of their locations but we are not authorised to strike because of the fear of collateral damages that could trigger massive outcry by human rights activists and even the media if we succeed in doing so,” the source concluded.
