2022 TRAIN ATTACK VICTIM MEETS KIDNAPPER IN KADUNA MOSQUE
In a deeply moving turn of events, Comrade M. B. Muhammad, one of the survivors of the 2022 Abuja–Kaduna train attack, says he has forgiven one of his abductors after a surprise encounter inside a mosque in Kaduna State.
According to Muhammad, the encounter occurred recently at Shema Mosque in the Rigasa area of Igabi LGA, Kaduna, after he had finished Isha’i prayers. To his astonishment, he recognised Abubakar, one of the armed men who held him hostage following the March 28, 2022, AK-9 train attack that shocked the nation.
In a social media post recounting the event, Muhammad wrote, “By the will of God, just as the imam ended the prayer, I ran into one of the men who kidnapped us. He told me he has repented and left terrorism behind. He now works as a commercial motorcycle rider.”
Muhammad said the two men held a lengthy conversation, during which Abubakar claimed some of the kidnappers had been killed in counter-insurgency operations, while others continued their acts of terror. “I told him I forgave him, and I gave him some charity because of the state I saw him in,” Muhammad wrote. “Oh Lord of all the worlds, guide us all and guide them too.”
Muhammad later confirmed the story to journalists from Daily Trust, who met with him at his office in Kaduna metropolis. The encounter has since sparked widespread reflection on the complexities of trauma, justice, and redemption in Nigeria’s long-running battle with terrorism and insecurity.
