He, however, said he had to continue with the mediation because of immense pressure and appeal by the relations and loved ones of the victims.
Previously, the abductors had released three batches of the captives, including managing director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Hassan, a group of eleven victims and a pregnant woman released alone.
A security source told one of our correspondents that the federal government rarely secures the release of any captive.
“Government is not amenable to releasing terrorists in their custody because of some international convention.
“It is however sad that in Nigeria, while we don’t agree to prisoner swap most of the time, the terrorists always have their way as evident in the recent attack on Kuje Prison where many high profile terrorists were released.
“We don’t have the capacity to protect our prison facilities and we don’t have the capacity to protect the citizens. Hundreds of terrorists have been set free in various prisons…It is unfortunate,” he said.
One of the released captors had, at the weekend, painted sordid details of their journey to the terrorists’ den and life under the insurgents.
According to him, the attack on the train was a collaborative operation between the B/Haram elements who held them and some bandits familiar with the train.
“They entered into an alliance with the bandits so as to benefit from their numbers and their familiarity with the train. In fact, even the location where we were held in the forests around Birnin Gwari they told us it was not their territory, they got permission from some bandits to keep us there,” he said.
The source, who craved anonymity, said the location where they were held was an open forest with only three huts within the vicinity.
“The men shared two huts while the women and kids used the other one. There were 20 of us in the hut I stayed in as of the time of our release on Saturday. They treated us fairly well without maltreating anyone, other than that first time they lashed us up when their leader called Malam Baffa came to see us immediately after we arrived.
“On some days they would slaughter a cow for us. The latest was the one they killed to celebrate the Sallah. They also preached to us every time either by themselves or through playing recorded preaching including by some prominent clerics,” he said.
The source also confirmed that the kidnappers of the travelers were the ones behind the jailbreak at Kuje Medium Security Correctional Centre on the outskirts of Abuja.
He said there was wild jubilation after the Tuesday night jailbreak when those who participated in the attack returned to their enclave with some of the freed prisoners.
The attack on the correctional center led to the escape of hundreds of prisoners held in the facility, including at least 69 Boko Haram suspects, according to officials.
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