More than 400 people abducted earlier this year by the terrorist group Boko Haram in a village in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State have been set free, a local senator and a youth organization official confirmed on Sunday, June 7.
According to Samaila Kaigama, president of the Borno South Youth Alliance (Bosya), 416 women and children taken from Ngoshe were released on Saturday. Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume of Borno State verified the release, though he said he was unaware of the exact circumstances surrounding the operation.
Bosya, which acted as a mediator between the kidnappers and the hostages’ families, offered no further details. No information was provided on whether any ransom was paid or if security forces intervened.
An area regularly targeted by attacks
Located less than 10 kilometers from the Cameroonian border, Ngoshe sits in the Gwoza hills, a region considered a stronghold of Boko Haram and frequently hit by attacks. Since 2009, the insurgency led by Boko Haram and later by its rival West Africa branch, ISWAP, has caused tens of thousands of deaths and displaced millions in northeastern Nigeria.
Capture d’écran d’une vidéo de Boko Haram datant du 31 octobre 2014. Abubakar Shekau, le chef de la secte, se trouve au milieu de la photo.