A former negotiator and Media Consultant to controversial Islamic cleric, Tukur Mamu, on Sunday, said the conditions of the remaining 23 hostages of the AK-9 Abuja-Kaduna train attack are deteriorating, having spent nearly five months with the terrorists in the forest.
This was just as he said a 21-year-old abductee, Arzurfa Lois, who is still being held hostage by the terrorists, might be married off to the second-in-command in the terrorist’s camp if urgent measures were not taken to secure her release.
Mamu, said he got the information from credible intelligence, urged the Federal Government and the Christian Association of Nigeria to hasten efforts for the release of the remaining hostages, especially Lois.
According to him, failure to act fast may lead to the repeat of the Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl married out to bandits in the North-East.
Mamu, who is also the publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald newspaper, said, “I believe based on what the bandits were used to before (Chibok and Leah Sharibu), once this is allowed (forced marriage), definitely getting her to be released will be difficult no matter the amount.
“That is why I am insisting that the time for action is now. In many instances, especially as regards to some of the Chibok girls and then Leah Sharibu, there have been efforts to secure their release but have proved difficult over the years.”
Mamu said information from the last batch of the hostages released last Friday indicated that the remaining 23 hostages are in precarious condition.
He noted that there could be casualties among the remaining 23 hostages if nothing was done.
