Seven more kidnapped passengers of the March 28 train attack in Kaduna state have regained their freedom.
The victims were released on Wednesday morning after spending 135 days in the custody of the terrorists.
It is however not clear if any ransom was paid to the terrorists for their release.
A member of the negotiating team, Tukur Mamu said in a statement on Wednesday that six of the released hostages are members of the same family, which include a couple and their four children.
The statement said the children and their parents were released after the intervention of Sheik Ahmad Gumi.
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It said, “Disturbed by the gory videos images of four teenage children belonging to same family he saw in the last video released by the attackers of the AK9 Train, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Gumi for the first since the abduction of the innocent passengers of that train over 4 months ago has reached out to the abductors through his Media Consultant, sent Allah’s messages to them and consistently pleaded with them to consider the release of the poor children and their innocent parents. It was learnt that the health condition of two of the teenage children has deteriorated since the flogging incident that affected their helpless father. A total of additional 7 hostages were therefore released on Wednesday.
The father of the four kids, Abubakar, is the son of a former Military Administrator of Kano and Benue States, Major General Idris Garba(RTD).
He is also a staff of the National Assembly Commission.
The terrorists also released a 60-year-old woman, one Hajia Aisha Hassan who was said to have been freed due to life-threatening health challenges that deteriorated recently.
The names of the six family members that were released are Abubakar Idris Garba who is the father of the four kids, his wife Maryama Abubakar Bobbo and their eldest son, Ibrahim Abubakar Garba who is 10 years old.
Others include Fatima Abubakar Garba, 7 years, Imran Abubakar Garba, 5 years old and youngest Zainab Abubakar Garba who is only one and half years.
So far, 42 victims have regained their freedom. The number of those still in captivity now stands at 35.
Gunmen had on March 28 blown up the rail track, killing some and abducting scores of passengers, a situation that called for serious concern about the safety of the nation’s trains.
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