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Abuja-Kaduna Train Victim Suffers From Recurring Trauma As Health Deteriorates

Abuja/Kaduna train

On March 28th 2022, the media was awash with shocking reports of an Abuja/Kaduna-bound train that was attacked by terrorists suspected to be insurgents with close ties with ISWAP members.

Among those on board the Abuja-Kaduna train are Ismaila Yusuf, Usman Lukeman, Daudu Ahmed, Mohammed Isa, Gusau Mohammed, Aliyu Waheed, Ronke Salako, Chidi Omehia, Okoro Uchenna.

Others are Wasiu Kunle, Obinna Tony Ariyo, Osamudiamen Osazuwa, Tijani Braimoh, Fatimatu .T., Rabi Talatu and Afishetu Saliu amongst others.

Over 63 passengers were abducted and taken away as the insurgents attacked the train with heavy armunitions killing over 14 passengers on board and abducting others .

Huge ransoms running into billions of naira were paid by families of the abducted victims to secure the release of each and every one of the victims from captivity several months later, it was confirmed.

However confirmed media reports revealed that some of the victims of the March 28th Abuja-Kaduna train abduction suffered from varying degrees of psychological trauma including mental health issues in the aftermath of the harrowing experience while in captivity for several months.

For Akhigbe Omomoh, one of the 63 victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train abduction, living with his present unstable health condition after his release from captivity several months after his abduction only lends credence to the extent to which the psychological impact of the traumatic experience of life in the wild forest had dangerously taken its toll on his health after his release.

He is one of the victims of the March 28th 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train abduction whose mental health was said to have deteriorated irretrivably as he was said to have never been able to recover from the ravaging trauma which followed his release from captivity several months after.

A close family source who spoke on condition of anonymity told our correspondent that Akhigbe Omomoh Oseni several months after his release from captivity gradually drifted into depression which further complicated his health .

According to the source, he was always in a constant state of mental instability which deteriorated gradually with time.

Speaking further, the source hinted that Akhigbe Omomoh Oseni immediately suffered from symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arising from the torture and harrowing experience in the wild forest with the insurgents.

Confirmed attempts by Akhigbe Omomoh Oseni to seek help medically either has not been successful as a result of the poor state of health-care services and inadequate qualified manpower in the sector .

He recalled with bitterness in his voice an incident in a viral video of a female Moslem victim who narrated in tears and pain how the insurgents barely in their prime sexually harrased and molested women, children including the men while exposing them (victims) to the harsh weather in the wild forest day and night for several months.

He said” A Moslem woman who was on social media recently narrated tearfully how she was molested and harrased by these insurgents, who according to her, are small boys speaking Fulfude, the language of the Fulani people.

“She wept bitterly in the viral social media video not because she was unable to pay the ransoms to secure her release but because she was molested severally by the insurgents who acted in same barbaric manner to other persons in their captivity as she became depressed after her release and had to fly to the United States of America to manage and deal with her trauma and promised never to return to Nigeria where kidnapping has been commercialized by certain powerful individuals.” the source stated.

Meanwhile, Akhigbe Omomoh Oseni’s sudden but gradual drift into a state of depression is one too many in Nigeria owing to the high prevalence of criminality fuelled by economic hardship, high unemployment rate and high cost of living as well as banditry as the highly lucrative business of kidnapings continue to flourish unabated amid growing population of poor Nigerians as hardly a day goes by in Nigeria without reports of incessant kidnapings by different armed groups are not heard through different media platforms.

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Ihesiulo Grace

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