PostedJune 12, 2022, 1:28 p.m.
Gunmen who carried out a major attack on a train in northwestern Nigeria at the end of March freed 11 hostages in an exchange with the authorities.
The attack targeted a train that linked the city of Abuja to that of Kaduna.
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After several months of negotiations, the 11 people, six women and five men, who had been taken hostage following a major attack on a train in Nigeria were released on Saturday in exchange for several children of the kidnappers, said specified the two security sources to AFP. “Eleven passengers detained by the armed men were released yesterday. They were exchanged for eight children of the attackers who had been captured” during a raid by the army, said a first security source.
“The deal was for them to release all the female hostages they were holding in exchange for the children, but they backed out and freed six women and five men,” a second security source said. Both sources requested anonymity to protect themselves. The hostages were taken to Kaduna (northwest) late Saturday followingnoon, before being transferred to Abuja, the capital, to receive medical treatment, the sources added.
8 dead and hostages
On March 28, gunmen launched a sophisticated bomb attack on a train from Abuja to Kaduna, killing eight people, kidnapping an unknown number of passengers and sparking outrage in Africa’s most populous country.
A week later, the kidnappers freed one of the hostages – a bank manager – as a “gesture of compassion for Ramadan” because of his age. At the end of May, they broadcast a video of the hostages, threatening to execute them for lack of an agreement with the authorities.
Several security sources believe that fighters from the jihadist group Ansaru, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, cooperated with bandits during this attack. Ansaru, which split from Boko Haram in 2012, is the only known jihadist group that has been in the northwest for several years. The criminal gangs of the North-West act for financial reasons, without a priori ideological claim. But the possible alliances between bandits and jihadists raise many concerns.
(AFP)