Boko Haram still holding teenagers as 360 captives freed in Borno
By Victor Idajili
Boko Haram insurgents are still holding teenage boys and girls in their enclave, even after 360 elderly men, women and young children abducted from Ngoshe in Gwoza LGA regained freedom on Sunday.
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai said the victims were rescued from the Mandara Mountains, where insurgents had kept hundreds of captives under harsh conditions.
On March 3, during Ramadan, gunmen attacked Ngoshe and abducted more than 400 people, mostly women and children — one of the largest mass kidnappings by the group in recent years.
The assault began with gunfire near a military base about 1km away before spreading into the village. Several people were killed, property worth millions of naira destroyed, and thousands fled. Many displaced residents are now in Pulka, a few kilometres from Ngoshe.
After the attack, insurgents marched the abductees into the rocky, poorly accessible Mandara Mountains. In April, a Boko Haram faction released a video of some captives and demanded N50 billion ransom for women and children, threatening to execute or “disperse” them within 72 hours.
Survivors earlier said the number of abductees was so large that insurgents struggled to feed them. Ngoshe, an agrarian community, has suffered repeated displacements since the insurgency began, with residents fleeing to other parts of Nigeria and Cameroon.
Lt-Col Haruna Sani, acting spokesman of Operation Hadin Kai, described the rescue as one of the most significant in the North East theatre recently. He said it followed weeks of intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and planning.
“Acting on confirmed intelligence, OPHK Special Forces and troops of Sector 1 launched a meticulously coordinated multi-axis operation designed to isolate the objective area, dominate key terrain, and prevent insurgent reinforcement or withdrawal,” he stated.
“Supported by real-time ISR feeds, assault forces infiltrated the objective area under cover of darkness while blocking forces established positions along likely escape routes. The operation achieved complete tactical surprise, overwhelming the terrorists before an organised response could be mounted.”
Faced with the troops’ advance, some insurgents fled into the mountains while others surrendered. Hostages were secured, medically screened and evacuated.
“Regrettably, two infants succumbed to exhaustion occasioned by the extremely challenging mountainous terrain and the hardships endured during their prolonged captivity,” Sani said. The remaining victims were taken to safe locations for medical care and humanitarian support.
The military high command commended the troops’ courage and discipline, noting the operation reflects the effectiveness of intelligence-led missions and synergy
Freed victims said insurgents gathered them Saturday night and offered an option to stay or return home. Most chose to leave and were picked up by troops at the foot of the mountain, then conveyed to Pulka.
“Some young girls and boys, aged around 12, 16 and 20 years, are still with the Boko Haram insurgents. The insurgents did not give the young girls and boys any option. We left them there,” one victim said. Another added that over 60 young men and women remain in captivity, while those released were older men, elderly women and children under 10.
Sources claimed fighter jets had hovered around three locations in the Mandara Mountains for days, and that negotiations were ongoing while insurgents used captives as human shields. The terms of any negotiation could not be confirmed.
Families in Pulka described emotional reunions. “We all rushed and hugged them, but they looked haggard and exhausted. Most of them were looking older and confused,” said Malam Nuhu, whose wife and brother returned.
Other families were in tears as relatives, especially young girls, were not released. “In fact you will not know who and who was released at that moment. We were set free in the night and everyone was rushing to leave the place,” one woman said.
A security analyst warned that insurgents often force retained young women into forced marriages or use them as suicide bombers, while young men are brainwashed and conscripted.
Borno Governor Babagana Zulum called the rescue a “major breakthrough” and thanked President Tinubu, the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff and Operation Hadin Kai command. He directed assessment and reconstruction of destroyed houses in Ngoshe.
Senator Ali Ndume also praised the military and Zulum’s interventions, while urging intensified operations to rescue abducted school children in Mussa, Askira-Uba, and travellers kidnapped along the Biu–Buratai road.
Timeline of major Borno abductions
April 14, 2014: 276 girls taken from Chibok Government Girls Secondary School.
April 2024: Hundreds of IDPs, mainly women and children, abducted in Gambarou Ngala.
March 2026: Over 416 people, mostly women and children, abducted in Ngoshe, Gwoza.
May 15, 2026: 42 school children abducted from Mussa Primary and Junior Day Secondary School, Askira-Uba.
