Abuja-Kaduna Train Victims’ Families Protest At Transportation Ministry

Some family members of the kidnapped Abuja-Kaduna train passengers protested at the Ministry of Transportation building in Abuja on Monday.

The families besieged the headquarters of the Ministry and prevented staff from gaining entrance into the building.

The protest is coming barely 24 hours after the bandits released a video showing the victims being flogged.

The victims were kidnapped during an attack on March 28, 2022, where nine people also died.

Frustrated by the plight of their loved ones, the families on Monday morning stormed the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry supervising the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the operator of the train.

Since the attack four months ago in which 60 passengers were abducted, at least 20 of the victims have been released in batches after they each paid a ransom of N100m while over 40 victims are still in captivity.

The beating of the victims was reportedly triggered by anger over the blockade of a ransom in exchange for some of the captives.

A victim filmed in the video clip, Mukhtar Shuaibu, confirmed the terrorists’ disenchantment over the blockade of the ransom.

“We don’t know what offence we have committed to the government of this country. We were born in this country. We have been here for 120 days, yet the government has been unable to rescue us. What is our offence to this country? Some of us were to be released recently but security agents blocked the access and refused to let our relatives come for us,” he said