Abductors of Abuja-Kaduna train passengers said they read news of how politicians, others steal billions without punishment – Negotiator, Mamu
Abductors of Abuja-Kaduna train passengers said they read news of how politicians, others steal billions without punishment – Negotiator, Mamu
The Publisher of Desert Herald and communication consultant to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, Mallam Tukur Mamu, has been involved in the negotiation with terrorists, who, on March 28, 2022, attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train and abducted many passengers. In this interview with GODWIN ISENYO, Mamu speaks about the efforts to rescue the victims
Three months after, the abducted passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna AK9 train are still in captivity. You’ve been involved in the negotiation for their release, how will you describe the efforts so far?
Honestly, it’s a painful and frustrating process that requires a lot of patience; that requires even strategy and understanding of the difficult situation, because if we don’t take many factors into consideration, this kind of mission has a high tendency to fail and result in casualties on the part of those kidnapped.
As you rightly noted, it’s almost three months now and even before my engagement, there had been efforts by the federal authorities but the talks were stalemated due to a number of factors, according to the abductors. There was no trust between them and those that started the talks. So, it was during that process that my name came up and they suggested that I should be part of those that will undertake the engagement and on the advice of my principal, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, I started and we have done so many things behind the scene within the period and by the grace of God, we have recorded some success.
By and large, I think the wide publicity we gave the threat by the group to stop feeding the abductees and ultimately execute them put the government under intense pressure to act. So, in this mission, we’ve got the support and cooperation of the Federal Government and the security agencies, firstly, to help in building trust and understanding; and secondly, to explore the possibility of give-and-take. So far, so good, we thank God because even if it’s just one innocent life we succeeded in rescuing, I think it’s a very good start, not to talk of 11 lives that we have been able to bring out. So, with this development, I think the next move will be even much easier as long as this same tempo is maintained by the government.
But you know, I told them quite frankly that in a situation like this, where, for example, we are at the receiving end, (we really don’t have many options) because they have innocent Nigerians with them and these are people with misguided religious beliefs; they don’t care to die. The security agents saw them when we went to the forest for the release of the 11 victims. These are people going about with explosives strapped to their body; they are ready to detonate the explosives whenever there’s an emergency. So, they don’t care about even their own lives. So, this is something that has no military solution because if you insist on the military option, there will inevitably be collateral damage and that is what the nation cannot afford, especially at this time. The captives are promising Nigerians. Among them, we have people who have contributed in no small measure to national development; so many important people. So, I think the government should understand the delicate situation. I still insist that the government must be ready to take very painful decisions since we still have majority of the victims with the abductors. Some of the painful decisions may go against the policy direction of the government, but I think it’s worth it. This is the kind of measure taken worldwide whenever there are issues of national interest or national security. I think you have to do as much as you can even if it means sacrificing your principle because the most important thing is to secure the lives of these citizens at whatever cost.
Who are these attackers? Some call them bandits; others say they are terrorists or ISWAP
They have nothing to do with bandits. They are a Boko Haram affiliate but with a different religious ideology because in the case of Boko Haram, the target are people who believe in Western education, irrespective of whether they are Muslims or Christians. Boko Haram believes it is justifiable to kill anyone who believes in Western education. But these other people, from our communication with them, say they are on a mission to spread their own belief and ideology but they do not force their belief and ideology on anyone. They said the reason they struck was because government attacked them first and killed several of their comrades while some of them were taken into custody, including their teenage children. They said they decided to go violent because of the pains, to revenge what government had done to them. They insisted that prior to this development, they had never carried out any attack except to spread their ideology. So, that’s why we believe there is a need for government to understand the genesis of this issue and see if there is a justified reason to address some of the legitimate grievances and give peace a chance in the country in order to ensure security for the whole country, especially on the Abuja-Kaduna road.
The road to Abuja is almost unmotorable, which makes travellers vulnerable to daily attacks. Now, government has invested so much in railway but uncertainty has forced them to stop operating it. So, even if we succeeded in rescuing these people, government still has a lot to do to ensure that all issues that need to be addressed are addressed, so that the train service will resume and the threat to security will be contained. Until there is a dialogue to that effect, it will be difficult to achieve peace.
How have you been able to persuade the abductors to release some of the abductees so far?
In principles of negotiation, you know, you have to be neutral first because it is not a matter of justifying whether what you get is right or wrong. So, you need to build confidence because you are at their mercy. You are the one seeking a favour from them. So, I think the issue of diplomacy in dealing, especially, with ignorant people with misguided beliefs is very important. We have adopted that and it works. Where we need to beg them or tell them the message of God regarding the sanctity of human lives, we have done. And I can say without mincing words that the Sheikh (Gumi) has done quite a lot behind the scene and they have a lot of respect for him. However, what we have realised, even with the security agencies during the exchange, is that so many issues need to be addressed first.
What are some of these issues?
They told us they listen to news on radio and hear about people stealing public funds without consequences. They said they heard that someone stole N80bn. They said people steal billions while they have been neglected with their children, who do not go to school. I think government must address the issue of out-of-school children; it’s alarming because most of these out-of-school children are vulnerable to being recruited by terrorists. I can assure you that a lot of recruitment is going on in the North and this is a potential time bomb.
But apart from addressing insecurity or trying to suppress terrorists or bandits, I think it is important to equally tackle the issue of corruption, so that national resources will spread evenly. As long as poverty remains endemic and unprecedented, I can assure you that we have not seen the worst in terms of insecurity.
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