Presidency has reacted to a viral video of terrorists torturing hostages and threatening to kidnap President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the use of propaganda and violence is not new.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that the terrorists who abducted over 60 passengers of the Abuja Kaduna train on March 28, were seen in a video released on Sunday, torturing the remaining captives. They warned that they would kill the remaining passengers in their custody and sell out the others if their demands are not attended to. The terrorists also threatened to abduct and kill the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai.
The Presidency in a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said the Nigerian security forces are neither clueless nor helpless but just cannot display their strategies to deal with the threats in public.
It noted that the military could not bomb the terrorists’ location because of the hostages.
The statement read: “Terrorist activity using propaganda and the use of violence to force governments to accept or submit to political demands are not new all over the 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.
“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 offence. All they did was 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.”
