The presidency, yesterday, reacted to a trending video on the social media showing the remaining Kaduuna train passengers in captivity being beaten by terrorists and insisted that the military, has the wherewithal to bomb the location but was only concerned about the attendant civilian casualty.
In a release by presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, the presidency averred that the dilemma in dealing with the specific case of train terrorists was manifold.
According to it, “punitive action like the popular call for carpet bombing of the known locations might assuage the desire of an angry public for revenge, but what about the hostages? They have committed no offence. All they did was to board a train.”
While stressing that President Buhari had provided necessary moral and financial backing to the security agencies, it added that the presidency expected positive result on the issues at stake
“The Presidency, in the meantime, wishes to reassure the public that the president has done all, and even more than what is expected of him as Commander-in-Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military and expects nothing short of good results in the immediate.”
“Terrorist activity using propaganda and the use of violence to force governments to accept or submit to political demands is not new all over world. The country’s security and defence forces are not clueless or helpless. They have their plans and ways of doing things, which they will not display in the media.
“It suffices to say that the security forces are not relenting. They are acutely aware of their duties, responsibilities and what the nation expects of them. Whenever they embark upon those actions, they expect that the public should provide them with the needed support.
“Terrorism is a global scourge that must be fought by all actors – the military, the civilian population and the communication service providers. This is the only way safe havens of terrorists are eliminated in every part of the world.
“To help the nation against ongoing situation, the media must increase their support for the fight against the exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes.”
Terrorists had attacked a Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28, killing eight and kidnapping no fewer than 61 passengers. They had initially freed a Managing Director of the Bank of the Agriculture, Alwan Hassan, after allegedly paying a N100 million ransom on April 7. Seven more victims were later released.
