The militants who kidnapped some passengers from an Abuja-Kaduna train in March uploaded a video of them being flogged over the weekend. They then declared that if their demands were not satisfied, they would kidnap Buhari and El-Rufai.
On Wednesday, July 27, El-Rufai addressed the threat while speaking on a radio programme.
He admitted that he has been pushing for the bombing of terrorist camps wherever they may be for the past five years, claiming that this is the only way to solve the issue.
"I also heard about a video where they threatened to kidnap me and Buhari," he added. My families and I have also been cautioned to exercise caution. How can some terrorists threaten to kidnap the president in a nation with soldiers, police, and a Federal Government? Government officials must stand up to deal with these individuals because they are here at home now, not just in Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger as they once believed. I met with the president on Sunday to discuss these issues, which is why. I also informed him of the video because, up until that point, he was completely unaware of it. I informed him, and the governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle, later confirmed to him that he had also seen the tape in order to move on.
The president assured me that he met with the service chiefs three to four days before to our meeting and that he gave them a clear order to conduct a thorough military operation to deal with those individuals. We pray that the military and police who were given the orders will move quickly to complete the task. We don't need to wait for them (terrorists) to attack before we act.
"Wherever they are, they (the army) must pursue them and deal with them. We genuinely worry about the security situation, but we also have faith that the federal government will act responsibly.
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