Freed Nigerian Hostages Recount Six Months of Hunger, Death in Captivity
Rescued Nigerian hostages describe starvation, forced burials, and births in the wild after a deadly February raid.
ILORIN, Kwara — Survivors of a mass abduction in Nigeria have described six months of starvation, fear, and death after being freed from jihadi captivity this week.
Among the 163 rescued hostages, many of them women and children, some spoke of being forced to bury fellow captives who died in the forest. Mary Ishaya, 44, said she had never handled a dead body before her ordeal. "We saw death and suffering," she said, struggling to find words for what she endured.
The hostages were taken on February 3 when militants stormed the village of Woro, killing more than 160 people. The attack was one of the deadliest in Nigeria in recent years and highlighted how armed groups are expanding beyond the north into central states.
Freed captives arrived in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara state, on Friday for medical checks. Many appeared emaciated, some lay on the floor unable to stand, and others bore injuries and emotional scars. Several women learned during the rescue that their husbands had been killed in the initial assault.
Amira Saliu, a nurse among the freed, said she helped deliver about 10 babies in the forest using only her bare hands. Hauwa Saliu, whose husband was killed, said captors repeatedly asked whether the hostages had accepted their preaching. "We prayed to God to help us go back home, but it never really crossed our minds that we were going to go back home," she said.
Locals in Woro believe the attack was punishment for resisting the militants' ideology. The rescued group was freed alongside 145 other victims kidnapped mostly from neighboring Niger state. Authorities did not disclose details of the operation, which took place in the dense Kainji Lake National Park.
President Bola Tinubu called it the "largest rescue operation ever" in a single day and promised to intensify operations against armed gangs. Analysts say the government must focus on prevention, not just response. "It is time for us to recheck how much our security apparatus does to prevent attacks," said Sekinat Ojeniye, a senior analyst at Africa Practice.
The United States provides logistics and intelligence support to Nigeria under an agreement aimed at protecting Christians, though much of the violence is concentrated in the north. Mass kidnappings, including of schoolchildren, have become a defining feature of Nigeria's security crisis.