After enduring six months in the grip of jihadi captors in Nigeria, victims recount their ordeal since being freed in what officials celebrate as the nation’s most significant rescue effort to date.
In a strategic operation, Nigerian forces rescued over 308 individuals this past week. The majority were abducted from two main locations, with 163 taken in a February 3rd assault on the Woro community in Kwara State, tragically resulting in the murder of 160 residents by the kidnappers.
Victims shared with the Associated Press their belief that the abductions served as retribution for their refusal to embrace the jihadi ideology imposed by their captors.
Hauwa Saliu, one of the freed captives, revealed to the press that their abductors persistently pressured them about whether they had accepted jihad.
Hauwa Saliu, among those liberated by Nigerian forces about six months after militants captured her in February, speaks to journalists while receiving medical care in Ilorin, Nigeria, Friday, August 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abubakar Khadijat)
“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 told the outlet.
Another victim, Amira Saliu, described the conditions in which the women and children were being kept, explaining that they were held in a forest near a river, and forced to put out fires and hide when they heard helicopters nearby.
Saliu, a nurse, also explained how she had to help 10 women give birth with no medical equipment or sanitary gloves.
“I had no choice but to use my bare hands,” she told the outlet.
Women who were rescued after being held in a forest after they were abducted from the Woro community by gunmen in February receive medical attention at a hospital in Ilorin, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abubakar Khadijat)
Mary Ishaya, 44, told the outlet that the captives often went days without food and had to bury other captives who had died.
“I still cannot find the right words to describe what has happened to us. We saw death and suffering,” she said.
A woman who was rescued after being held in a forest after being abducted from the Woro community by gunmen in February receives medical attention at a hospital in Ilorin, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abubakar Khadijat)
The governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, told reporters during a news conference that 46 victims were being treated at a hospital.
“This is indeed, indeed a very sad situation. We’ve not yet come to terms with it. We’re still assessing the situation. As you can see, it’s just kids … children and women that are here today,” he said. “It’s truly a shame that this has happened.”
The incident highlights the ongoing tensions between Nigeria’s militant Islamic insurgency in the north and the country’s large Christian population, who make up roughly 45% of Nigeria’s citizens.
On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump, in coordination with Nigeria’s government, authorized precision missile strikes on Islamic State-affiliated groups in northern Nigeria, citing the need to protect the country’s Christians.
US launches strike against ISIS in Nigeria. (Department of War via X)
The U.S. followed up in May, launching coordinated joint military action that reportedly resulted in the death of senior Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Mainuk.