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Terrorist leader moves to forcefully marry 21-year-old train abductee
By Dayo Badmus,
The leader of the terror group that abducted some of the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers have threatened to forcefully marry 21-year-old train abductee, Azurfa Lois John.
This is as another set of four of the remaining 32 abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers have been freed by their captors.
One Tukur Mamu, a media consultant to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, yesterday revealed that he gathered from reliable sources that one of the top commanders of the terrorists was planning to marry her any moment.
Mamu had been in the forefront for mediating for the release of the victims before he later withdrew.
To save the 21-year-old from being forcefully married out, Mamu called on the federal government and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), to take urgent steps to ensure the release of Azurfa Lois John.
“This is to alert the federal government and especially the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that I can confirm through credible information at my disposal that if urgent action is not taken to immediately secure the release of the youngest victim of the train attack, a 21-year-old Azurfa Lois John, the abductors as they have done in the case of Leah Sharibu, are planning to marry her any moment from now.
“One of the top commanders is said to be in love with her. This important information should be treated with the urgency it deserves,” Mamu revealed.
He said further that, “Even though I know that releasing this information will not only unsettle her immediate family and loved ones, but Nigerians as a whole, it is necessary to do so to avoid the repeat of Leah Sharibu’s case.
“I advise CAN in particular not to politicise this issue or reduce it to mere press releases as I have seen in the past but to work closely with relevant authorities to engage the abductors on her case as soon as possible before it is late.
“I pray that in view of the uncertainties which are becoming alarming, the federal government will also act very fast to ensure the release of all the remaining victims.”
The four released victims, which include a 90-year-old woman and her 53-year-old daughter, were released yesterday.
Mamu, who confirmed the release of the four abducted passengers in a statement, said “I can confirm that earlier on Friday (yesterday), four additional victims of the train attack were released by their abductors.
“The four released victims just left my office. They said they came collectively to thank me for the past efforts I made to mediate on their behalf and for convincing their abductors to drop the threats of executing them and to plead for all stakeholders especially the federal government to intensify efforts as the condition of the remaining 23 victims they left at the forest is pathetic,” the statement said.
According to him, among those released were “the oldest victim, a grandmother, Mama Halimatu Atta, 90 years old and her daughter, 53-year-old married woman, Adama Atta Aliyu.”
He said others include Mohammed Sani Abdulmaji (M.S Ustaz) and a Sokoto indigene, Alhaji Modin Modi Bodinga.
With the release of the four victims, 28, other victims are still being held by the terrorists.
On March 28, the terrorist attacked an Abuja-Kaduna bound passenger train, killing eight people while abducting 62 passengers. Several other passengers also sustained injuries during the attack.
