Terrorists who attacked an Abuja-Kaduna train service have released another 11 out of the passengers they kidnapped.
The terrorists had abducted about 65 passengers out of the over 300 on board during the attack on March 28, 2022.
During the attack, the killed nine passengers.
The release of the 11 passengers was confirmed on Saturday to newsmen by Tukur Maru, the Media Consultant of Sheikh Ahmed Gumi.
Mamu said the 11 abductees were freed after intense negotiations between the Federal Government and the terrorists.
According to him, the 11 victims released were Jssy John, Amina Ba’aba Mohammed (Gamba), Rashida Yusuf Busari, Hannah Ajewole, Amina Jibril, Najib Mohammed Daiharu, Gaius Gambo, Hassan Aliyu, Peace A. Boy and Danjuma Sa’idu.
He said they have been flown on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari to Abuja for medical evaluation and treatment before the decision to reunite them with their grieving families.
According to him, some retired Army Generals and a renowned professor also assisted in the release of the passengers.
Mamu, who also quoted an insider source, said the male victims were released on health grounds as part of the request made by the negotiating team, while the women described as vulnerable are part of the agreement reached with the abductors.
He said: “It was expected initially that all the abducted women will be released in the first batch while negotiations for the release of the remaining victims will continue but according to another source that was privy to Saturday’s engagement with the abductors, they decided to cut down the number of women they initially agreed to release because of FG’s demand to include those with life threatening injuries/illnesses among the ones they released.”