Kaduna Train Attack: Buhari Sued Over Prolonged Abduction Of Passengers

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari has been sued over the continued stay of Kaduna train attack victims in terrorists’ captivity.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) dragged the President before the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja, in a suit filed together with an application for an expedited hearing.

In the suit, No ECW/CCJ/APP/20/22 filed last week, the organisation said the Buhari government has failed to protect the rights to life, security, and dignity of the victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.

SERAP added that the federal government has failed in its responsibility to secure the safe release of the passengers held captive by the terrorists.

Naija News recalls that bandit terrorists on May 28 attacked a Kaduna bound train, killing nine passengers and injuring several others during the attack.

The gunmen, who also kidnapped over 60 passengers, asked the Federal Government to release their commanders who are in various detentions across the country.

The victims have remained with the daredevil terrorists for a month, with one of the two kidnapped pregnant women giving birth to a baby boy week.

Despite repeated appeals for the federal government to rescue them from captivity, the victims are still languishing in the den of the terrorists.

In the suit filed by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, SERAP is seeking “a declaration that the train attack, abductions and killings of passengers by terrorists amount to a failure by the government to protect Nigerians, and to prevent these grave human rights violations.”

The organisation is also seeking “an order directing the Buhari government to protect, promote, and fulfil the human rights of Nigerians, including travellers across the country, by ensuring adequate security and taking measures to prevent attacks.”

SERAP is seeking “An order directing the Buhari government to urgently find and identify all the passengers, victims and their families, and to pay adequate monetary compensation of N50 million to each of the passengers and victims and their families.”

It is also arguing that “The Buhari government has a legal duty to protect individuals from real and immediate risks to their lives and security caused by actions of third parties such as terrorists.”

SERAP is also arguing that “A fundamental notion of contemporary human rights law is that victims of violations such as the victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack enjoy an independent right to effective remedies. Rights without remedies are ineffectual, rendering illusory the government’s duty to protect such rights.

“The Buhari government has failed to protect the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed rights of the victims of the train attack to life, dignity, and security, and their right to an effective remedy.”