One of the victims of the deadly Abuja-Kaduna train attack on March 28, 2022, Lois Arzurfa, on Monday said that she has forgiven her abductors and would not ask God for vengeance.
OsunDaily News reports that the 21-year-old girl was one of the 65 passengers that were abducted at gunpoint onboard the AK-9 passenger train months ago.
Reports had emerged earlier that a terrorist commander threatened to marry the young female hostage. Arzurfa who was among the remaining 23 passengers that were freed last Wednesday, told newsmen from her hospital bed that their freedom came as a surprise to her.
The 100-level student of the Kaduna State University told reporters that she has put behind her all the suffering they went through in the 191 days spent in their terrorist’s den.
Recalling their abduction, Arzurfa said they were all captured in a commando-like style by the terrorists who stormed the train, shooting indiscriminately, ordering them to go out.
According to her, their journey to the unknown began after the train incident. Arzurfaย said they walked a distance that night before motorcycles came, and took them away and they journeyed for four days before arriving at the main camp that became their abode for 191 days.
She said, โFrom the scene of the attack, I saw that the train just derailed, the terrorists entered the train, they started shooting sporadically and they asked us to go out. Then, the men were tied up, they collected our phones.
โWe walked a distance that night before bikes came. Then, they took us to where we spent that night. We journeyed for four days before we got to where they dropped us off, which is their main camp. We were there doing nothing, every day was just like the repetition of the previous day.โ
When asked how they were fed and treated by their captors, Arzurfa said, โWe cook in the morning and in every day, so we eat twice a day.โ
Medical Doctors Were Brought To The Terrorist Camp To Treat Victims
Confirming the report that medical doctors were brought into the camp, Arzurfa said whenever any of the abductees were sick, the terrorists would bring in medical doctors to treat them.
โAnytime we are sick, they brings drugs that is just it. The terrorists have medical doctors who come around to give medical care,โ she said.
When asked if the terrorists were planning to give her out in marriage to one of their commanders as reported, Arzurfa said the terroristsโ commander picked on her and proposed to marry her but she rejected the offer.
โYes, it is true that one of the terrorists commanders picked and proposed to marry me but it just an offer and I rejected it. Once you reject, they donโt force people.
โI was not the only one the terrorists offered to marry. They would just ask you, โI want to marry you, I want to keep you and I want you to change your religion and convert to my religion.โ So, it is left for you to either agree or reject,”ย Arzurfa added in her interview with The PUNCH.
The young lady reiterated that she had forgiven the terrorists โas much as God forgives us our sins,โ adding that โall what happened are in my past now. The terrorists are in my past too.โ
โI never knew I was going to come out. Even if I was going to come out, I knew it was going to take a while. So, I was just there praying to God, waiting for the day I would leave the camp.
โThe news of our leaving the camp just came unexpected. The terrorists just came and asked us to start packing our things.
โThe preparation took a week until the final day when they now asked us to move and handed us over to the Presidential Committee.
โNow that I am out, I have forgiven my abductors, as much as God forgives our sins too. All that happened are in my past now, the terrorists are in my past too, it is over now, I donโt have anything against them,” Arzurfa said.
This article was originally published on OsunDaily News