Hundreds of individuals abducted earlier this year by Boko Haram in a village within Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, have been freed following a coordinated operation, local officials confirmed on Sunday.
Boko Haram has increasingly relied on mass abductions—often demanding ransoms—as a central tactic in its 17-year insurgency against the Nigerian government, which has ravaged the northeastern region.
Samaila Kaigama, leader of the Borno South Youth Alliance (BOSYA), announced that the group had secured the release of 416 women and children kidnapped from Ngoshe.
The freed hostages were released on Saturday, Kaigama told reporters. Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume of Borno State later corroborated the news in official statements.
While the exact circumstances of their release remain unclear, reports indicate the victims endured harsh conditions during captivity after being seized from multiple communities, particularly in the Ngoshe area.
Tragically, two infants lost their lives due to exhaustion from prolonged captivity and the rugged terrain, as revealed by Daniel Bwala, spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu.
The military disclosed that intelligence gathering and psychological operations were conducted to sow discord among insurgent ranks ahead of the rescue phase. Militants had reportedly demanded multimillion-naira ransoms for the Ngoshe captives.
Nigerian authorities have denied paying any ransoms, though security analysts suggest such payments are a persistent, if unofficial, practice—both by government forces and victim families.
Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis, fueled by Boko Haram, armed bandit groups, and separatist factions, has surged in recent years. Between July 2024 and June 2025 alone, ransom demands netted an estimated $1.66 million, according to Lagos-based intelligence firm SBM Intelligence.
Ngoshe, situated less than 10 kilometers from the Cameroonian border in the Gwoza Hills—a long-standing Boko Haram stronghold—has faced repeated attacks. Since the group’s emergence in 2009, its insurgency has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions across the region.