A family member, whose younger brother was among those flogged in the video, Hassan Mohammed, said her mother collapsed after seeing the video of her son being flogged mercilessly by the terrorists.

According to him, the video has devastated him and his family.

Mohammed stated, “I have been demoralised after seeing that video. I don’t know what to do next. Since yesterday night that we were sent the video I have been thinking of what the next line of action should be. I could not believe my younger brother was part of those that were flogged.

“It demoralised everyone in the family. Our mother fainted after seeing the video. Initially, we didn’t want her to see the video but I knew that she would get to see it on social media so a neighbour told her about the video and she called me immediately to confirm.

“At that point there was no need trying to hide it from her. Since the incident occurred, she has not been feeling well and we have been consoling her to keep praying but she could not bear her son being beaten. I can’t call his (brother) wife to tell him about the video as a result of this. Our government has failed us.”

Leader of the victims’ families under the umbrella of relatives of AK9 Abuja-Kaduna train kidnapped passengers, Aminu Othman, said the interception of the ransom by the military infuriated  the terrorists.

He called on the government and the military to allow them to pay the ransom to free their loved ones since they could not rescue them.

 Othman said, “You saw the video and you heard what they said. Three of the victims’ relatives arranged with them for their release; when they went (to the terrorists’ camp), the military stopped them from getting there. That was what triggered this video.

‘’The government is not doing anything and those that want to pay you are not allowing them. For over 120 days they beat them only once and that was yesterday, just to show you how angry they are. Our plea to the government and the military is that if they know they cannot rescue them, let them allow the family members to go by themselves to free their relatives. It is a very sad situation.”

Another family member, Idayat Yusuf said, “I could not stop crying after seeing the video. These people have been in the bush for over 100 days; nobody thinks we still have people there, everybody has their mind on the 2023 elections.

‘’Many of them who want to be president have never said a word not to talk of meeting with us. It is unfortunate the kind of country we are in.”

Military, DSS, police

The military and other security agencies did not respond to requests for reactions to the video on Sunday.

Director, Defence Information, Defence Headquarters, Maj Jimmy Akpor did not pick calls to his phone and was yet to respond to a text message sent to his line.

Also, Department of State Services spokesman, Peter Afunanya did not respond to calls and a text message sent to him on the threat to the President.

Police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, declined comment when contacted for reactions.

But reacting to the incident, a security expert, Chidi Omeje, advised Nigerians to seek divine intervention, noting that the Federal Government has failed in protecting her citizens.

The analyst observed that the threatened abduction of the President was significant, noting that no country would laugh over the issue.

Jackson Ojo wondered why the government could not track the terrorists despite its access to an array of technologies.

In his assessment of the video, a security risk consultant, Kabir Adamu, noted that the terrorists were getting desperate because they have not obtained what they were looking for.

He noted, ‘’There are a couple of things that became very clear with that video: First, the abductors are getting desperate that they haven’t gotten what they wanted. At least, we have an idea of what the demands were: they wanted 10 of their members released which has been done but it appears they want more of their members who are in custody of the government released.’’

Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, Dare-Ariyo Atoye, blamed the Federal Government for failing to address the issue with the seriousness it deserves.

Spokesman of the Coalition for the Northern Groups, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, urged  Nigerians to rise up and defend themselves, noting with regret that the terrorists are exploiting the failure of the government to protect Nigerians.

Abdul’aziz said, “In the face of the latest development, Nigerians would be right to resort to self-protection because obviously the bandits and insurgents have sensed a huge vacuum in the capacity and political will to challenge them.’’

Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, contended that the president has shown that he is unwilling to solve the security issue.

Punch