Mustapha Imam, one of the freed passengers of the Kaduna-bound train attacked by terrorists in March has made some revelations after his release.
He advised the Federal Government to be vigilant because their captors have moles planted across the country.
Mustapha Imam, an associate professor of Medical Biochemistry at Usman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, said the terrorists are well organised to the extent that trading goes on in their camp.
He added that the government needed to act fast to rescue the remaining captives, including a one-year-old child and a female nonagenarian
Imam also said his release came to him as a surprise, given the fact that he became the doctor of his fellow captives and the terrorists.
”Those people are highly organised. They told us that, they have spies across the country. I believe them because we always heard them talk about things they should not know about,” he told Arise Television
He added: ”I want to believe that, that information came from their spies or people they have planted across the country. We actually heard them talk about the attack they are planning very openly. They said they can attack this place and that place and some of these attacks come to pass.
“When I came out, I learnt that they were responsible for the Kuje Prison attack and others across the country.
“I will say the government needs to take them very seriously because they are very organised.”
Imam, who also disclosed that the terrorists once gave each of them N10, 000 up-keep allowances, explained that he was able to play the role of a doctor because he holds a degree in Medicine.
He said: “My first degree is MBBS, which means I have a medical degree. So, for that reason, I was literally the camp doctor. I had to treat the captives and our abductors that were sick. Even people high up in the organisation were actually coming to me for consultations.
“At a point, I was actually really scared for myself, because I thought they would not let me go. I was becoming their personal physician.”.
Imam described the terrorists’ camp as a place he would not wish his worst enemy to be.
He said that food and medical supplies were serious challenges in the camp, as they were at a point fed with only maize once or twice daily.
Imam added: ”There were days when we only ate once and there were days we ate twice. Mostly, we were fed with maize or just carbohydrates, which is not balanced in any way, especially for children.
”When people got sick on camp, it took days for us to get medication. But in a way, I will say they are magnanimous and vulgar sometimes.
I can remember, there was a time a particular lady had malaria and literally went into a coma right in front of me. It took days for drugs to be delivered.
“Something happened one day that got me confused. For some reason, they decided to give everybody in camp N10,000 to be able to purchase whatever we wanted. They sell things like soft drinks, beverages, bread and others in the camp.”
Asked if a ransom was paid to secure his release or not, Imam said he could not give a definite answer.
“I have not communicated with my family members. I live in Sokoto and I am currently in Kaduna. It is only when I communicate with my family members that I can know if they paid money or not,” he said.
He however noted with dismay that the government did not play any role in securing their release.
“Unfortunately, the government did not play any role in securing my release. It was purely my family that did that.
