Survivor recounts six-month ordeal of 163 Kwara kidnap victims
A survivor has recounted how 13 children died in captivity among 163 residents abducted from Kwara communities in February, before security forces secured their release.
A survivor of the mass abduction of residents from Woro and Nuku communities in Kwara State has recounted the harrowing six-month ordeal that claimed the lives of at least 13 children in captivity. The victims, primarily women and children, were abducted during a terrorist raid in February and only regained their freedom this week following a coordinated security operation.
Speaking to journalists at Kainji Barracks in Bussa, Niger State, where the 176 rescued victims were received for medical evaluation and debriefing, the survivor described the grim conditions inside the terrorist camps. A survivor, who gave her name as Aisha, said the abductors were transporting the victims to Niger Republic but were blocked by military operations.
She said the abductors killed at least 13 children, many of whom died from starvation and disease, while others succumbed to malnutrition. She said the victims were forced to eat unripe fruits to survive. The survivors, many of whom were visibly weak and traumatised, arrived at the barracks on Wednesday and Thursday after being transported from the forest camps.
Kainji Barracks Medical Reception Centre, Brigadier General Abubakar Garba, confirmed that the victims are being treated for malnutrition and related illnesses. He said authorities have set up a special medical centre to attend to the survivors.
The release of the 176 victims is a significant achievement, but the revelation that 13 children died in captivity casts a long shadow over the rescue. For six months, these families endured starvation, disease and the death of their children. The government’s inability to rescue them sooner raises uncomfortable questions about the effectiveness of the security response. The survivors’ testimony that the abductors were transporting them to Niger Republic suggests a transnational dimension to the kidnapping.
This echoes the 2022 mass abduction in Zamfara, where dozens of children also died in captivity before their release. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: a tragedy that should never have happened.
The winners: the 176 survivors who have regained their freedom; and the security forces who secured their release. The losers: the families of the 13 children who died in captivity; and the Nigerian state, which failed to protect its citizens.
Bottom Line: Thirteen children died in captivity among 163 Kwara kidnap victims. Their ordeal lasted six months. The question is whether such tragedies will ever be prevented.