Dr. Solomon N. Yusuf, one of the
four University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) lecturers abducted by suspected Boko
Haram terrorists in Magumeri, Borno State, has lamented the failure of Federal
Government to free them from captivity.
Dr. Yusuf and his colleagues were
abducted on 25 July while obtaining soil samples for hydrocarbon
exploration around the Chad Basin. The exploration was being coordinated by the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The lecturer's lamentation was
contained in a letter from captivity to his wife, Hannatu.
In the letter, dated
4 September and obtained by SaharaReporters, Dr. Yusuf reminded the government
that he and his colleagues were abducted while on a national assignment, not on
a sightseeing trip. He pleaded with the government to meet the demands of the
abductors under the control of Abu Mus'ab Albarnawi, warning that delay in
doing so poses a huge risk to their lives.
"I want to emphasize that
delay in getting our freedom poses risk to our dear lives. We never expected we
would spend over 42 days (as at 4 September) in captivity because the project has
presidential orders to explore hydrocarbon in the Chad Basin," Dr. Yusuf
wrote.
He recalled that the Vice
President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, while functioning as Acting President, made
a promise during the commissioning of a rice mill in Kebbi State that the
government would do everything to secure their freedom within the shortest
possible time.
"The government should please continue negotiating with the present contact given to them by the University of Maiduguri as a means of contacting soldiers of Khalifa under the leadership of Abu Mus'ab Albarnawi. We plead with the government to treat our freedom with all sense of urgency and sympathy so that that we can be reunited with our families. The use of force is a serious threat to our lives," he pleaded.
The lecturer, who thanked the
local and international media for focusing on his abduction and that of his
colleagues, told his wife that he and his colleagues, Messrs Yusuf Ibrahim and
Haruna Dashe are alive, well and hoping to return home. Dr. Yusuf inquired
about his children Suzy, Bryan and a newborn apparently delivered after his
abduction. He directed the wife to, in his absence, have the newborn named by
his father, Mr. Nehemiah Yusuf. He also told his wife to extend greetings from
Messrs. Yusuf and Dashe to their wives and children.
Dr. Yusuf called on members of
the abductees' families to weigh in with pressure on the authorities of
University of Maiduguri and the Federal Government for their freedom.
He used the letter to complain
that Professors Saidu Baba and Adamu Dziuama, coordinators of the exploration
of behalf of the NNPC, that he and his colleagues have been in captivity for
long. Dr. Yusuf said he expected the government to have freed them by now,
given that over 70 lives have been lost in the abduction saga.
Dr. Yusuf thanked the national
and University of Maiduguri chapters of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) for calling for their release, especially for including
their matter as one of the reasons for the ongoing national strike by members
of the union.
Read letter below:
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In shaa Allah you shall regain your freedom soonest
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