Terrorists threaten to kidnap Buhari, El-Rufai, other politicians

…As FG declares threat as mere propaganda

By Uthman Salami

The terrorists involved in the abduction of the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers have issued a threatening video message to abduct and kill both President Muhammadu Buhari, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Senators as well as other leaders in the Country.

Following this rare threat by the terrorists group, the Federal Government has declared the new video by the group as a mere “propaganda and the use of violence to force governments to accept or submit to political demands is not new all over world.”

The dreaded group had in a two-minute and sixty seconds video, the terrorists were seen mercilessly weeping the victims with sticks whilst threatening to destroy the country, kill the remaining passengers in their custody and sell out the others.

“This is our message to the government of Nigeria and just as you have seen these people here, by God’s grace, you will see your leaders; your senators and governors will come before us,” one of the terrorists said in Hausa language.

Part of the video showed that, “These ones you are seeing here, we will keep some as our slaves and sell them off just as our Imam told you in the past.

“Just like the Chibok girls that were sold off, we will equally sell these ones as slaves. If you don’t adhere to our demands, we will kill the ones we need to kill and sell the remaining. By God’s grace, El-Rufai, Buhari, we will bring you here.”

However, in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Garba, which was received by Nigerian NewsDirect, the President said, “The country’s security and defense forces are not clueless or helpless. They have their plans and ways of doing things which they will not display in the media.

Claiming that, “The dilemmas in dealing with the specific case of train terrorists are manifold: punitive action like the popular call for carpet bombing of the known locations may assuage the desire of an angry public for revenge, but what about the hostages?

“They have committed no offense. All they did was to board a train.

“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.

“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.”