Alwan Ali-Hassan, the kidnapped Managing Director (MD) of the Bank of Agriculture, has confirmed his freedom from his abductors, saying he was released because he’s an old man.
In an 81-second video posted on Twitter by a Senior Conflict Analyst at the Tony Blair Institute, Bulama Bukarti, Ali-Hassan, who was among the passengers of AK9 Abuja to Kaduna train that was attacked on Thursday, March 28, 2022, said he would now be allowed to go due to his age.
“We are the ones who kidnapped the people on the train. We decided to release this man (Ali-Hassan) because of the honour of the month of Ramadan and because he is old. He has been pleading since we kidnapped him.
“The government should know that the train attack is just a little of what we can do,” one of the armed whom Ali-Hassan was flanked with in the video, stated.
Analysing the video, Bukarti explained that the abductors said they’re not after ransom and that govt knows what they want. Judging from their language and posture, these are not bandits.
According to him, they are likely members of the Ansaru faction of Boko Haram and their demand is likely the release of their leaders who have been a detention for long.
Meanwhile, over a week after the train attack, no less than 168 people are still missing, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said.
There were 362 registered passengers on board the train when it was raided, however the corporation has not said whether the 168 people believed to be missing are all customers or if some train staff are among them.
Multiple reports have quoted relatives of some of the missing as saying suspected bandits had contacted them to tell them they were holding their loved ones in hostages, demanding ransom for their releases.
