Suleiman Umaru
The Ansaru terrorists, believe to be members of the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP operating in the north east states of Borno and Yobe, working closely with the Bandits Group in the north west states of Zamfara and Kaduna, who were said to have attacked An Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, FCT,-Kaduna bound Passenger Train on March 28, 2022 and kidnapped 62 passengers, appears to have turned Kaduna a war zone in the recent time.
Note that two of the 64 Passengers abducted by the killer gangs have regained their freedom. One of them, Alwan Hassan, Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture was said to have paid N100 million, the same amount paid by each of the 28, App Progressive Congress, APC, Presidential aspirants , to purchase the party Presidential nomination forms to contest the 2023, general elections. But the terrorists, claimed that the Banker was released because of his age and for the Ramadam Fasting, being the holy month period that Muslims all over the world observe Fasting for 29 or 30 days which many believe was begging the question.
The second person, who was said to have been released by the armed terrorists was a pregnant woman on compassionate ground but with a message through her to the Nigerian government to hasten efforts to facilitate the release of the 62 others or they would be blown up in the forest.
The Ansaru terrorists and their Bandits Group collaborators may have realised that President Muhammadu Buhari, is not ready to listen to them, let alone negotiate with them for ransom to be paid that they have resorted to blackmail by releasing You Tube videos to show the condition of the victims which are very much deteriorating on a daily basis and the need for the government to come to their rescue by yielding to their demands which runs into millions of naira.
They may have been able to fish out the prominent passengers in the Abuja –Kaduna bound train and appear to be using them to penetrate the ranks of the Presidency for ransom to be paid for the release of the 62 passengers still in their custody. They may have located one Sadiq Abdullahi, the son of Ango Abdullahi, a Professor and former Vice Chancellor of University of Zaria and former Chairman of Northern Elders Forum, NEF, to reach out to his father in order to use his contacts in the Presidency to reach out to the Presidency to further explain about the deteriorating condition of his son and other victims of the Train attack.
The young Abdullahi, who was said to be flanked by other hostages including women, who sat on the mat while he knelt down and other men,as their own daily punishment were said to cried out to the Nigerian government to save their life which is in danger from the grip of the terrorists.
There are fears in unofficial circles that the trigger hungry masked terrorists carrying AK 47 and other sophisticated weapons, who are ordering the hostages around may take the extreme action of killing one of the hostages to force the Buhari Administration, who is already preparing to organise the 2023, general elections and the National Population Census, NPC, to yield to their demand.
One of the demands was the release of their eight children still in government Custody in Adamawa state. The Ansaru terrorists and their Bandidt Groip Collaborators, were said to have given their word that upon the release of the eight children , they would release the 62 hostages still in their custody in an unknown location in the Kaduna forest to the Nigerian government.
Funny enough, Abdulazeez Atta, and other family members of the 62 abductees, still in the captivity of the terrorists den appea to fallen into the trap of the kill and go terrorists. Pofessor Attah, who is the spokesperson of the family members of the abductees, had volunteered to take the eight children of the Criminal gang to their forest hideout if the government agrees to release them and in return take back to the government 62 remaining Abuja-Kaduna bound train still in their custody.
Family members of the 62 abductees in the den of the Ansaru terrorists and the Bandits may have shocked Nigerians during a recent press conference when they said that ‘’the terrorists have started communicating with them directly and revealing some of their demands which they have said must be met by the Federal government’’.
They were said to have told those that cares to listen that ‘’the kidnappers are holding them in total confidence and they, in turn, are also holding them in confidence’’. This is where Yusuf Magaji Bichi, Director General, Department of State Security Service, DSS, and the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, and other Security agencies Chiefs, including, Usman Alkali Baba, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, may have to step in to work closely with Professor Atta and other family members of the 22 Abuja-kaduna Train Passengers still in the custody of the Anasaru Terrorists and Bandits to be able to break into the ranks and take them unaware in their forest hideouts.
While the Anasaru terrorists and their bandits Collaborators may have adopted to plan B, to SWAP eight children of the Bandits in detention in Adamawa state for the release 62 Abuja-Kaduna Train Passengers still in their custody may have given the government the impression that they have turned a new leaf but on Tuesday, May 30, 2022. The two killer gang had blocked the BirninGwari highway in Kaduna state, where they were said to have abducted more Passengers including students traveling to write their exams for the school of health Technology, in Kharfi, scheduled to hold in the state University in the Metropolis.
According to Idris Saidu, the Public Relations Officer of Birnin Gwari Emirate progressive Union, had said that the two Criminal gangs had succeeded in abducting the Passengers and Students, because they had laid siege in three different locations in the Birnin Gwari Highway, forcing the motorists to make U-turns, on hearing about their operation on the road, thus falling into their waiting hands. They were said to have taken the victims to an unknown forest hideout. More worrisome was their destructive tendencies as the Birnin Gwari, Emirate Progressive Union spokesperson had confirmed that they set ablaze eight vehicles.
The question on the lips of most people was why Isa Ali Patani, the minister of Communication and Digital Economy and the experts in the ministry and the Telecommunication Companies have not been able to track these terrorists in their forest hideouts using their phone networks which are linked to The National Identity Number, NIN.
Many believe that if the minister of Communication and Digital Economy, and his ministery experts would go back to the drawing board to plan on to handle the Bandidits who are now collaborating with the Asaru Terrorists and pass every available information to Lt. General Farouk Yahaya, the Chief of Army Staff and Air Marshall Olayinka Amao, Nigeria Air Force, NAF, Chief , it will give them opportunity to plan their operation and deal decisively with the terrorists in their forest hideouts using both ground troops and fighter Jets to bomb their hideouts and subsequently destroy their Camps without giving them room touse hostages still in their custody as human shield. Only recently, the airwing of the Multi-national National Joint Task Force, MNJTF and Operation Hadin Kai, had destroyed 10 settlements in the Lake Chad Basin, weaning the BokoHaram and ISWAP, Terrorists, in the north east geopolitical region. Patani and his ministerial officials and the Telecommunication Companies, could help the security agencies to carry out a similar operation in Kaduna, to weaken the Bandidts Group and Ansaru terrorists who are still bent in unleashing mayhem on the people of Kaduna state.
