RELATIVES of the kidnapped victims of the Monday night terror attack on Abuja-Kaduna train have accused the Federal Government of insensitivity towards the plights of the victims, two weeks after the incident.
They also said that the Nigerian Railway Corporation had yet to reach out to them on efforts made to rescue the kidnapped victims since the incident.
Consequently, the relatives handed down a 72-hour-ultimatum to ensure the safe rescue of their beloved ones from the den of the terrorists, adding that failure to listen to them would force them to decide how to rescue their loved ones.
They stated this shortly after their meeting on Monday in Kaduna, also adding that they had yet to be contacted by the terrorists for negotiation.
Dr Abdulfatai Jimoh, who led and spoke on behalf of the kidnapped relatives, said they were yet to establish contact with their loved ones or even the hoodlums since the incident on March 28, 2022.
According to him, the government should negotiate with the terrorists, as they have demanded in a recent viral video, to secure the release of their loved ones alive.
He said this was not out of place since the federal government seemed incapacitated to protect the lives and property of the citizens.
He said: “This incident happened on the 28 of March, a day or two after, most of had communication without relatives. The kidnappers said that we should be ready that they were going to contact us. And we have not heard any communication from them since then. 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 effort they are making or not to rescue our loved ones unhurt.
“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. Until a few days ago, we had been expecting telephone calls from the abductors because that’s what they promised us, but when we saw the video, they made it very clear that they wanted to discuss with the government; that they had something with the government.
“We don’t know what they want from the government. But it’s now an opportunity and a window for the government to rescue our loved ones by opening a channel of communication with them (terrorists). This is not out of place. It is done anywhere in the world.
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