Kidnapped Nigerian Graduates Freed After Families Pay Ransom

Fifteen young Nigerian graduates kidnapped on October 1 by Fulani militia along the Onitsha–Owerri highway have regained their freedom after families paid ransom, parents told TruthNigeria and other outlets. One mother said she borrowed money from multiple sources to meet the ₦6 million (about $4,400) demanded for her daughter’s release. The freed graduates were later seen walking through Amakohia‑Ubi, a remote farming community about 15 kilometers from the abduction site, disheveled and asking villagers for directions to Owerri.

“I borrowed money from different sources to complete the ₦6 million demanded by the kidnappers”, the parent told News Central TV.

“All the affected parents had to gather at a place called Adamasingba in Ibadan, Oyo state where we put together all the money we raised and thereafter, appointed representatives who travelled to Imo state to deliver the ransom”, she went on to say. “When they got to Owerri, the kidnappers told them to bring the equivalent of the total ransom in dollars and they did.”

In a video posted online by a Human Rights Activist, Mr. Chinonso Uba, on Wednesday 7 October, 2026, the victims numbering 16, including the kidnapped graduates, were seen walking along a village in Amakohia – Ubi located in Owerri west Local Government Area (county) of Imo state while residents and passersby sympathized with them.

The graduates were kidnapped at Umunoha axis of Onitsha – Owerri road in Mbaitoli Local Government Area on 1 October 2026, according to a report by TruthNigeria.

Freed 15 kilometers from point of abduction

Seven days after their kidnap, the graduates were sighted walking along Amakohia – Ubi, a remote farming community located 15 kilometers away from the scene of their abduction.

A resident of Amakohia – Ubi who identified himself as ‘Obidiegwu’ , told TruthNigeria that the graduates attracted the attention of the villagers when they asked a roadside food vendor for information about their location and the direction to a major road leading to Owerri, the Imo state capital.

“They appeared disheveled and could not speak or understand Igbo language”, said Obidiegwu to TruthNigeria. “They asked a food vendor to give them the direction to a place where they could board a vehicle going to Owerri”, Obidiegwu continued.

“Their appearance alone told the story. They communicated to the villagers only in English. The people who saw them realized that they were the prospective corps members who were reported to have been kidnapped on October 1”, Obidiegwu added.

Following repeated attacks by the Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) at Amakohia – Ubi, the Imo state police command had in November, 2025, launched a search operation in that area and discovered two forest camps used as operational bases by kidnappers.

Police unaware of ransom payment

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday 8 October 2026, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Audu Bosso, said he is not aware whether a ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

“I am not aware whether a ransom was paid”, said Bosso.

“We responded swiftly to the distress call”, he continued. “Because of the pressure we gave the hoodlums, they eventually released the prospective corps members, and we rescued them.”

Earlier in a statement on Wednesday 7 October 2026, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, said the prospective corps members were rescued on 7th October 2026 at Amakohia – Ubi community in Imo state following sustained search-and-rescue operations.

NYSC offers redeployment options

Following the release of the abducted graduates from captivity, the management of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) reportedly offered them the opportunity to serve in any state of their choice in southwestern Nigeria.

A parent of one of the freed graduates told Punch that the survivors were allowed to choose the states where they would continue their national service.

“They have been given the opportunity to choose states in the South-West to continue their service with the current batch,” the parent said.

Group calls for localization of service

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, is demanding immediate administrative changes to let graduates serve in their areas of domicile to stop long, hazardous interstate travels through high-risk corridors.

Afenifere came up with the demand following the recent kidnap of 15 prospective corps members in Imo state as well as the recurrence of kidnapping of corps members along the federal highways in Nigeria.

An analysis of media reports between 2024 and October 2026 showed that the 70 corps members were kidnapped across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, according to BusinessDay. The recurring attacks have heightened anxiety among prospective corps members and their parents regarding travel safety during the mandatory service year.

By Ebere Inyama, Truth Nigeria

Group of 20 graduates rescued after being abducted in Nigeria

A group of 20 young people who were abducted in south-east Nigeria last week have been rescued, police say.

The graduates were kidnapped on 1 October while they were travelling for a national community service programme in the Abia and Akwa Ibom states in the south of the country.

They were rescued by the police with the assistance of other security agencies.

Police spokesman Ani Iniedu said in a statement on Wednesday the group were rescued at Amakohia Ubi in Imo State after a sustained search-and-rescue operation. The group are being looked after and have been taken for medical evaluation.

The police, military and other security agencies conducted intelligence-led searches of forests and suspected hideouts, he said, but he did not say whether any ransom was paid or if any arrests had been made.

But the police spokesman did say they were making efforts to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

The police had previously said they had identified the location where the group was being held but could not rescue them because it was mined with explosives.

The group of young people were participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), which is a compulsory one-year community service programme for most Nigerian university graduates, where people are posted to different parts of the country.

The group were travelling in two buses travelling on a major highway from Ibadan in south-western Oyo state to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when gunmen attacked the vehicles.

The incident has reignited concerns over insecurity and kidnapping along roads in the south-east.

Before they were released, the father of one of the people who were abducted, Omotosho Adewale, told the BBC that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of 50m naira ($37,680; £28,440), which he could not afford.

"There's no peace of mind. I've not eaten in three days," he said in between tears.

Kidnapping for ransom is a major security problem in Nigeria, involving criminal gangs and armed groups. The authorities have not released any information about the identity of the attackers.

The government has outlawed paying ransoms to kidnappers in an attempt to remove the incentive for the gangs but this has had little effect.

By Gabriela Pomeroy, BBC

Related story: Nigeria’s worsening insecurity tests president’s second-term bid

More than 80 reported abducted in Nigeria as police find human remains

More than 80 people have been reported missing in Nigeria after being abducted by armed gangs, a media report said, as authorities announced the discovery of human remains suspected to belong to victims of kidnapping in the southeastern state of Abia.

The AFP news agency reported on Monday that at least 87 people, mostly women, were missing after two separate weekend attacks.

At least 47 farmers were abducted by armed men while harvesting peanuts in the northern Niger State on Saturday, while 40 women were kidnapped in the neighbouring state of Zamfara on Sunday, the agency reported, citing two security reports and a local source.

The kidnappings in the Mariga area of Niger and Yargada in Zamfara are the latest attacks by criminal gangs who specialise in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling. Locally known as “bandits”, they regularly carry out bloody raids on villages, killing residents and torching homes after looting them.

Separately, police in Abia announced in a statement on Sunday that they found 28 human skulls and bones ”suspected to be [of kidnapped] victims”, after raiding camps linked to criminal groups in the forests.

In a statement on X, the police said suspects at the scene had fled and added that “efforts are intensified to apprehend the fleeing suspects”.

Mass abductions for ransom have become common in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs frequently holding abductees until they are paid large sums of money.

In August, gunmen abducted as many as 600 worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village in the north-central Niger State.

According to research from SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, armed groups raised some 7.8 billion naira (nearly $6m) in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026, more than triple the 2.6 billion naira paid during the same period last year.

The latest wave of kidnappings comes a few months ahead of the January presidential elections, in which security, along with the rising cost of living, is set to be a major issue.

President Bola Tinubu has faced growing criticism over lax security.

Residents of Niger State protested last Monday over the abduction of hundreds of people who, they said, remained in captivity a month after gunmen attacked several communities in one of the country’s largest mass kidnappings.

Al Jazeera

Related story: Terrorism, kidnapping choke trade lifeline linking Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon

Dozens kidnapped in 2 weekend attacks in northern Nigeria

More than 80 people were abducted by armed gangs in two separate attacks on Saturday and Sunday in northern Nigeria, the latest mass kidnappings for ransom to rock the country.

On Saturday, at least 47 farmers were abducted by armed gangs while harvesting peanuts in Niger state, and on Sunday, 40 women were kidnapped in the neighbouring state of Zamfara, according to two security reports seen by AFP and a local source.

Gunmen on motorcycles -- members of gangs specialising in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling, locally known as "bandits" -- have for years terrorised rural communities in northwestern and central Nigeria.

These groups regularly carry out bloody raids on villages, killing residents and torching homes after looting them.

A local source said the 47 farmers, most of them women, were taken from their farms in Rimi, an agricultural community in the Mariga area of Niger state.

The women kidnapped on Sunday were taken from Yargada, in the Gusau area of Zamfara, according to a security report prepared for the UN and seen by AFP.

Kidnapping has become a key source of income for criminal groups in Africa's most populous nation, particularly for jihadists and bandit gangs.

AFP

Nigerian residents protest as hundreds remain captive a month after mass kidnapping

Residents of Nigeria's north-central Niger protested on Monday over the abduction of hundreds of people who they said remained in captivity ​a month after gunmen attacked several communities in one of the country's ‌largest mass kidnappings.

The protesters, from Dekara and neighbouring communities in Borgu district where residents say armed men abducted about 600 people, mostly women, children and the elderly, converged on the ​local government headquarters in New Bussa to demand the captives' release.

Borgu, roughly 300 ​km (186 miles) from the state capital Minna, lies along Nigeria's ⁠border with the Republic of Benin to the west.

The protest increases pressure on ​President Bola Tinubu's government to tackle insecurity, a hot issue ahead of elections ​in January 2027.

Although Tinubu ordered an immediate rescue operation following the August 21 attacks, the kidnap victims have yet to be found.

"Security agencies have been mobilised, but we are yet to ​get any response from them. The government is definitely making efforts to ​rescue the people," Niger State Commissioner for Information Obed Nuhu Nana told Reuters.


'CLOSE TO 700' ‌IN CAPTIVITY

Residents ⁠have previously said about 600 people were abducted but authorities have not given a number.
Abdullahi Yahaya Sadauki, president of the Borgu Youths Development Association, said communities now estimated that close to 700 people were being held by kidnappers.

Reuters ​could not independently verify ​the figure.

"Let a ⁠head count be conducted in the villages. That will be the best way to establish if our claim is ​true or not," Sadauki said.

Abdulmutallib Dindey, a member of the ​youth association ⁠and among the protesters, said insecurity had restricted residents' access to markets and healthcare.

Hanifa Konkoso, 26, said shops were closed in Borgu despite Monday being a market day as ⁠residents ​observed a shutdown.

"We want the government to take ​action," she said, adding that residents continue pressing authorities to secure the release of the captives and ​restore security.

By Hamza Ibrahim, Reuters

Nigeria’s worsening insecurity tests president’s second-term bid

The mass abduction of hundreds of people from mosques in northern Nigeria this month was at once shocking and yet unsurprising: The targeting of civilians by insurgents and bandits has surged compared to last year, and the three months through June were the most violent in at least three decades.

The latest attack comes on the heels of a retired army general's shocking death in captivity after being kidnapped on his way to a wedding, and the kidnap of more than a hundred other travelers in two separate events in the northwest.

President Bola Tinubu, who began a three-week vacation in Europe on Sunday, ordered an army and police rescue operation of the 600 people kidnapped in Niger state, but the episode comes at a crucial moment: He is in the midst of campaigning for reelection and while his team has trumpeted economic progress, it has been quieter about Nigeria's security situation.

Tinubu anchored his 2023 manifesto on grand national security promises of "a proactive and intelligence driven security approach," but he has mainly focused on fixing Nigeria's ailing economy in his first term. His team put out a scorecard this month of his three-year performance that focused on economic results.

"Certainly in the first couple of years of this administration, insecurity did not seem to be the priority," said James Barnett, a non-resident fellow at the Hudson Institute who has lived and researched conflict in Nigeria. "That doesn't mean there weren't security policies being implemented, but it was not really getting the top level engagement."

Leading opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, also Tinubu's main rivals ballot in 2023, have pledged to hire more people and "decentralize security management" to tackle insecurity, if elected. For his part, Tinubu has backed a law that will allow Nigerian states to set up their own police departments, and tasked a security committee with drafting a five-year "strategic defence operations plan."

Alexander's view

The worry over being abducted is more firmly ingrained in the Nigerian psyche compared to three years ago. The increasing chances of being taken, whether one is in a church, mosque, school, on a trip to the capital Abuja or resting at home, is a grim reality that should not be the case given Tinubu's firm campaign pledges.

Since his first day in office, Tinubu has made sweeping economic changes — from a fuel subsidy removal and naira devaluations, to overhauling tax laws and reigniting oil and gas investment — but has not shown the same urgency on security issues that should be his primary duty. It means that Nigeria's continuing failure to stamp out abduction and terrorism is Tinubu's failure.

"Despite sustained military pressure, there's no evidence that Nigeria's insecurity is abating in substantial terms," Taiwo Hassan Adebayo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, told me. "Nigerian security planners need to ask and respond to the questions about how the armed groups source their weapons, get fuel they use to power their bikes, and access Starlink for connectivity in their remote locations where telco service is off," Adebayo said.

For Tinubu and his chief adversaries Atiku and Obi, then, Nigeria's security predicament will require more than election season sloganeering. The candidates are yet to captivate voters with a robust action plan that seriously takes into account the ideological, economic, and governance gaps that enable bad actors to thrive. And so in facing the same electoral choices as last time, Nigerians are limited to the same set of ideas ill-suited against worsening problems.

Know More

Ladd Serwat, senior Africa analyst at ACLED whose data shows a 30% rise in the targeting of civilians by insurgents and bandit groups in Nigeria, said this year's second quarter was the country's most violent since the Wisconsin-based firm began collecting data in 1997. "The spread and intensification of armed banditry across northern and central Nigeria" drove the escalation, Serwat told Semafor.

Banditry is increasingly lucrative: Between July 2025 and this year, ransom payments for abductions in Nigeria tripled to $5.8 million, according to the SBM, a Lagos-based consultancy. The rise was on the back of a 66% year-on-year increase in the number of kidnap victims, the firm said.

Analysts say terror groups like rival factions of Boko Haram and al-Qaida affiliates such as the JNIM sect are surging in number and increasingly competing with one another in Nigeria, to a degree that makes it sometimes difficult to distinguish between them and correctly attribute actions.

The insecurity landscape is also more chaotic because some groups, after initially being invited to help defend against insurgents, turned into terrorists, said Dengiyefa Angalapu, an analyst at the Center for Democracy and Development in Abuja.

One such group is Lakurawa. It entered Nigeria from the Sahel following a recourse to self-help by some communities in the northwest, but Nigeria declared it a terrorist group last year for its al-Qaida ties. This identity flux adds to the difficulty of Nigeria's fight against guerrilla warfare, Angalapu said. "They sometimes mix very well with their communities. Sometimes they are bandits by night, and community members by day."

Other conflicts such as between farmers and herders, separatist movements in the southeast, and oil theft in the Niger Delta make up Nigeria's "increasingly layered and geographically dispersed," security troubles that raise the cost of doing business, Jervin Naidoo, political analyst at Oxford Economics Africa, said.

Step Back

After the threat of a coup late last year, Tinubu reshuffled the Nigerian military's top brass. The new leadership then participated in a joint operation with the US in December, striking terrorist enclaves. This year, Tinubu has raised army officers' pay and created more army units, while Nuhu Ribadu, his national security advisor, has met with US officials on three occasions since November to update Washington on Nigeria's efforts to prosecute terrorists and counter terrorist financing.

Yet, "a lot of the Nigerian government's reaction has had to do with managing diplomatic relations," Barnett, of the Hudson Institute, said. Raising military pay and expanding firepower were positive measures, but whether Tinubu maintains the political energy needed to fully implement structural changes beyond this election season remains to be seen, Barnett said.

Room for Disagreement

Ebenezer Obadare, the Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow on African Studies, tallies about a half dozen military operations by the Tinubu administration that have rescued hostages, and declares that "the Nigerian President has every reason to be delighted." The killing of at least four high-profile terror group leaders and more than 1,000 terrorists with the US government's assistance suggests that the tide of a prolonged fight against jihadist insurgency "has turned in favor of the Nigerian authorities," he wrote.

But Obadare added that Nigeria's security situation "remains critical," and that continued cooperation with the US remains necessary "for the foreseeable future."

The View From Washington DC

The US Department of Defense plans to withdraw 200 troops who were deployed to Nigeria in February as part of the Trump administration's counter-terrorism assistance. The mission generated "significant security returns," the Pentagon said.

President Donald Trump's aides and Republican political allies have often framed security engagements with Nigeria firstly as a defense of Christians that are supposedly being particularly targeted by jihadists. It continues to be the leading priority of a joint working group that said Abuja has taken steps to prosecute hundreds of terror suspects, and improve law enforcement capacity.

Nigeria has spent at least $9 million on lobbying in the US to counter sentiments questioning Tinubu's security commitment. But that has not stopped Trump allies, like Sen. Ted Cruz, chair of the US Senate's Africa subcommittee, from threatening sanctions and an aid freeze in response to what they still deem to be "mass violence against Christians and religious minorities."

By Alexander Onukwue, SEMAFOR

Related story: Video - Kidnappings surge in Nigeria as ransom payments climb

Video - Kidnappings surge in Nigeria as ransom payments climb

A SBM Intelligence report found that 7,825 people were kidnapped in Nigeria in the 12 months to June — a 66% rise on the previous year. The consultancy estimates nearly $5.8 million was paid in ransoms, cautioning that the true total is likely higher because many payments go unreported.

CGTN Africa

Related story: Video - Nigerian armed groups raise nearly $6 Million in ransoms, study finds

Video - A mass kidnapping is testing Nigeria's government

An armed group has posted a video appearing to show hundreds of people kidnapped from a mosque in Nigeria's Niger State. Sub-Saharan Africa Lead Writer David Lewis explains why the attack is piling pressure on the government of the country.

Reuters

Related stories: Kidnappers release video showing hundreds abducted from Nigerian mosque

President Tinubu orders rescue operation after mass kidnapping at mosque

Kidnappers release video showing hundreds abducted from Nigerian mosque

Kidnappers have released a video of what appears to be a large group of people being held captive by armed men in a forested area in Nigeria.

The video emerged on Sunday, two days after gunmen abducted as many as 600 worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state.

The incident comes as Nigeria prepares for presidential elections in January, with security likely to be high on the agenda due to a wave of mass kidnappings for ransom across the north of the country.

Dekera village residents have reported that gunmen took people away in simultaneous raids on several communities.

In the video, posted on Facebook and WhatsApp and circulating widely, children can be heard crying. A gunman speaking in the Hausa language speaks directly to families of the captives, telling them to identify relatives.

“These are all your people,” the gunman ⁠says.

News agencies reported that they could not verify the exact date or location where the video was filmed. However, no older version of the video has been found posted online before Sunday.

Residents, including Abdulmutallib Muqaddas Dindi, were able to confirm the identities of some ⁠of the hostages.

“We have identified our elders, relatives, and some of us have seen their wives and children in the video,” he said.

Police and state authorities have not responded to requests for comment.

Amnesty International has urged Nigerian authorities to secure the release of the worshippers, warning of the growing threat posed by mass abductions in northern Nigeria.

State Commissioner for Information and Orientation Obed Nana told the Anadolu news agency that an operation is under way to “assess the situation, track the attackers, and facilitate the rescue of the abducted worshippers”.

Mass abductions for ransom have become common in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs frequently raiding villages, schools and highways and holding abductees until the gangs are paid large sums of money.

Increasingly, the gunmen are targeting communities further south, beyond ‌hot spots in the north.

As he prepares for the election, President Bola Tinubu has faced growing criticism over lax security.

Al Jazeera

Jihadis kidnap dozens during Friday prayers in Nigeria

Extremists attacked and abducted a number of worshippers in Nigeria's Niger State, authorities said on Saturday.

Police said the armed men attacked a number of villages in the Borgu Local Government Area before storming a mosque in the village of Kpenya during Friday prayers.

"People were abducted while praying at a Juma’at mosque on Friday," Borgu area council chair Abdullahi Mohammed Nasir told the Associated Press.

"That was when the bad people came and surrounded the mosque and took them away."

Some witnesses recounted extreme violence.

"Soon after finishing the normal Friday prayer, the armed group [...] in their hundreds, wielding guns, knives and machetes, began to attack us," one survivor told the AFP news agency. "They slaughtered some of our people, saying we are not practicing the true teachings of Islam."

Local residents told the AFP and Reuters news agencies that dozens of people — as many as 60 — were kidnapped.

Witnesses also told AFP that the armed men killed several people, although according to police, "the developing report indicated that no life ‌was ​lost."

Who was responsible for the attack?

No group claimed responsibility for the attack in the day that followed and police have not identified the culprits.

One witness told AFP that the gunmen belonged to Lakurawa — an increasingly radical outfit that researchers link to the "Islamic State Sahel Province" group.

Another resident told AFP that the attackers were Ansaru, which split from Boko Haram and is now aligned with al-Qaeda.

Witnesses also said that a third, rival jihadi group known as Mahmuda clashed with the attackers and allowed some of the abductees to escape.

Although jihadi attacks have declined in Nigeria since the height of Boko Haram's insurgency last decade, the military and police remain overstretched as they face multiple, sometimes overlapping conflicts.

In addition to jihadist insurgency in the north, parts of Nigeria also face violence and kidnappings from non-ideological gangs known locally as "bandits."

By Zac Crellin, DW

Families protest in Nigeria over children abducted nearly 100 days ago

 

Parents of children abducted from Nigeria's northeastern Borno state protested in Uba town on Thursday, demanding the federal government ‌secure their release nearly 100 days after they were taken.

The children ‌were seized from their classrooms on May 15 in Mussa, a community on the fringes of ​the Sambisa Forest, a long-time stronghold of Islamist militants.

The protest underscored families' frustration as kidnappings persist despite years of military operations against Boko Haram and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) offshoot in northeastern Nigeria. While the insurgency has weakened since its ‌peak, both groups continue to ⁠stage attacks on civilians, schools and security forces across Borno and neighbouring states.

The abduction was followed by another attack in nearby ⁠Lassa on June 29, where 36 students and a teacher also remain captive. Last month, authorities secured the release of schoolchildren abducted by gunmen from schools in southwest ​Oyo ​state after nearly two months in captivity.


'WE ​WORRY EVERY DAY'

A police spokesperson said ‌the military is "on top of the situation" but declined further comment, directing enquiries to the military. A spokesperson for the military did not respond to requests for comment.

"We still have not seen them," said Chinda Buba, whose child was among those abducted. "We do not know where our children are. We don't know whether ‌they are healthy or going through difficult ​conditions."

Peace Nicolos, whose two children, aged 3-1/2 and ​8-1/2, are among the missing, ​said families lived in constant anxiety.

"We worry every day and ‌struggle to eat," she said. "We are pleading ​with the government ​to rescue them."

Orbet Lawan Yakubu, representing the traditional ruler of Mussa, said around 45 children remained unaccounted for.

"There is nothing more painful than separating ​very young children from their ‌parents," he said. "The entire community is affected because almost every family ​is connected to those who were taken."

By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

At least 25 killed in attack on Nigeria's Plateau amid reprisal fears

At least 25 people were killed in an overnight attack on a ​village in Nigeria's central Plateau state, local officials and ‌residents said on Tuesday, in violence that has heightened fears of violent reprisals in the restive region.

The incident highlights persistent insecurity in Plateau ​state, where tensions between farming communities and herders often ​spiral into retaliatory violence, leaving people dead, displaced ⁠and homeless.

Lemun Le'an Iliya, a councillor representing the area, said ​23 people were killed in the attack and another victim ​later died in hospital.

Resident Amos John said that an additional victim had died, bringing fatalities to at least 25. He said the attackers went ​from house to house, killing residents with machetes, with ​women and children accounting for most of the victims.

Plateau police spokesperson Alfred ‌Alabo ⁠told Reuters officers were deploying to the area and would issue a statement after assessing the situation.

A local group, the Mwaghavul Youth Movement, accused authorities of failing to protect vulnerable communities ​and called ​for a review ⁠of security in the area.

"The recurring destruction of communities, killing of innocent citizens, burning of ​homes and destruction of farmlands cannot continue to ​be ⁠treated as ordinary incidents," spokesperson Tubwot Joël Sunday said.

Plateau, in Nigeria's Middle Belt, has long been plagued by violence linked to ⁠disputes ​over land, grazing rights and resources, ​often compounded by ethnic and religious divisions.

By Hamza Ibrahim and Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

Video - Rescued Nigerian kidnap victims recount ordeal after months in captivity

Nigerian security forces this week rescued more than 300 people abducted in separate attacks in Kwara and Niger states. President Bola Tinubu described the operation as the largest same-day hostage rescue in Nigeria’s history. The victims are now receiving medical evaluation and treatment, with some recounting their ordeal after months in captivity.

CGTN Africa

Priest murdered, followed by kidnappings at Mass in Nigeria

Two violent attacks against the Catholic Church in Nigeria have been perpetrated in less than a week. A priest was killed and days later, on Aug. 2, gunmen stormed a Mass and abducted several people.

According to the Vatican agency Fides, the slain priest was Father Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro of the Diocese of Lokoja in Kogi state.

“With deep sorrow but with firm faith in the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” on July 30 the Diocese of Lokoja announced “the passing unto eternal glory” of Oyetoro.

Details of the murder were released by state police spokesperson and assistant superintendent Afusat Oyiza Salihu. “On July 29, 2026, around 9:30 a.m., the police received information regarding the discovery of a manʼs lifeless body along Church Road in Ajaokuta,” Salihu said.


Salihu added that police arrived quickly at the scene and confirmed that the victim “had severe machete wounds to the head.” The body was taken to ASCL Hospital, where the priest’s death was pronounced.

According to Salihu, “the investigation is ongoing,” and they are working “to apprehend those responsible.”

“Once the preliminary investigation is concluded, the case will be transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department for further proceedings,” she explained.

Meanwhile, the governor of Kogi state, Ahmed Ododo, condemned the killing, describing it as “an atrocious and unacceptable act,” according to Fides.

Gunmen storm a Mass

While the local Church was mourning the priestʼs death, still another incident of violence shook Nigerian Catholics.

Fides also reported that on Sunday, Aug. 2, at least seven gunmen stormed St. Joseph’s Church in Inoyi Affa, Enugu state, during the morning Mass.

The attackers abducted three people: a seminarian, a catechist, and a parishioner.

Several attendees at the Mass attempted to pursue the kidnappers but abandoned the effort upon realizing the assailants were armed and to avoid further endangering the lives of the hostages, according to Fides.

Police launched a search operation that led to the release of the catechist. However, seminarian Lawrence Chidera Igbo and a parishioner identified only as Emmanuel remain in captivity.

By Diego López Marina, EWTN NEWS

Video - Nigerian judge kidnapped from his home by unknown gunmen has been freed

Faruku Hassan Bunza, a Nigerian judge abducted from his home in Bunza town by unidentified gunmen on July 26, has been freed, police said on August 3. Kidnappings are routinely used by criminal groups in Nigeria to secure lucrative ransom payments from either the government or victims' families. The exact details of Bunza's release were not immediately clear, and the attackers remain at large.

France 24

Gunmen invade Catholic church, abduct three

Gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, have invaded a Catholic Church in Enugu State and abducted a seminarian and two other worshipper. One of the victims was, however, freed some moment later.

Witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES that the incident occurred on Sunday morning at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Inoyi, in Affa, Udi Local Government Area of the state.

The seminarian, it was gathered, had entered the church to conduct Sunday worship alongside some worshippers when the hoodlums invaded the church.

An indigene of the community, who identified himself simply as Christopher, said although three people were initially abducted, the attackers left with two people, including the seminarian.

“The kidnappers initially abducted the seminarian, catechist, and another person in the church.

“But after they moved with the victims for a few minutes, the kidnappers asked the catechist to go back and then entered the bush with the seminarian and the other worshipper,” Christopher narrated.

Based on interviews with residents and witnesses, PREMIUM TIMES identified the abducted seminarian as Lawrence Chidera Igbo.

The other worshipper was simply identified as Emmanuel.

Video clip

PREMIUM TIMES has also seen a video clip apparently recorded shortly after the abduction.

In the clip, a man, who claimed to have witnessed the attack but did not identify himself, narrated how it happened.

“Rain was falling while we prepared for church. What we saw was that a crowd of people ran towards us, saying that our seminarian and other worshippers had been abducted from the church.

“While we were running around on how to face the problem, police operatives came and enquired of the route the kidnappers followed and we showed them and also joined them in combing the bushes.

“The kidnappers were seven and all had Ak-45. But we retreated because we had no weapons. Should we pursue armed kidnappers empty-handed?” the man narrated.

While he spoke, other residents corroborated his narrative and claimed that they were willing to confront the kidnappers but had no weapons to do so.

“We no longer feel safe in our community because of kidnappers. When we began combing the bushes, they were firing shots at us and we ran because we had no guns,” one other resident said.

The residents called on Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State to assist the community in tackling frequent kidnap attacks in the area.

“We have able-bodied youths and even vigilante members, but they need to be equipped to work.

“We are begging Peter Mbah to help us,” one of them appealed.


Police speak

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately get a comment from the police on the incident as Daniel Ndukwe, the spokesman for the police command in Enugu, did not respond to calls and a text message from our reporter on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Ndukwu, a superintendent of police, later issued a statement on Sunday afternoon, claiming that the third victim was freed after a joint team of security operatives trailed the kidnappers.

“The operatives, while closing in on the fleeing suspects, forced them to abandon one of the victims, who was immediately rescued unhurt. The assailants, however, escaped with the remaining two victims,” he said.

He further said the joint security team comprised the police, the forest guard and members of the neighbourhood watch group in the community.

‘Intensive operation’

Mr Ndukwe said the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Bitrus Giwa, has ordered the Area Commander, Oji-River, and the Head of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit to further intensify ongoing operations to track the attackers and rescue the victims.

The spokesman also said Mr Giwa further ordered immediate generation of actionable human and technical intelligence in support of the operation, while activating the surveillance and technical capabilities of the Enugu State Command-and-Control Centre to bolster the ongoing rescue efforts.

The police chief, he said, also urged residents of the community to remain calm and continue to support the police with information that will aid ongoing operations.

He assured them that every available resource was being deployed to secure the safe rescue of the remaining victims and prosecute the attackers.

By Chinagorom Ugwu, Premium Times

Gunmen kidnap at least 52 in overnight raid in northwest Nigeria

Kidnappings have become a major source of income for armed groups in Nigeria, including jihadists in the northeast and criminal gangs known locally as "bandits."

Gunmen kidnapped at least 52 people, including children, in a weekend attack on a village and military base in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state, local sources told the AFP news agency on Monday.

Kidnappings have become a major source of income for armed groups in Nigeria, including jihadists in the northeast and criminal gangs known locally as "bandits."

Zamfara is one of the hardest hit states in the northwest.

The gunmen on motorcycles swept into Kasuwar Daji village in the Kaura Namoda local government area around midnight on Saturday into Sunday, first attacking a military base on the outskirts of the community, residents told AFP.

The attackers seized rifles from the base and set a military patrol vehicle ablaze before raiding the village, where they abducted dozens of people, residents said.

"Initially, they abducted more than 100 people," before letting some go, ultimately retaining 52, said Shehu Abdullahi, a resident of Kasuwar Daji whose 12-year-old daughter was among those kidnapped.

"The gunmen went from house to house, abducting many people," another resident, Ahmad Usman, told AFP, giving the same toll.

"They abducted two of my sons' wives and they also took away two teenage girls from my family."

No soldiers were suspected to have been kidnapped.

Alhaji Ibrahim Musa told AFP the attackers "overpowered (a) military base stationed here in our community."

"This is not the first time these criminals are attacking our community," he added, noting a recent attack on a police station.

Army spokesman Olaniyi Osoba said troops "successfully" repelled the attack on the military base, in which the gunmen killed a soldier and a policeman and "abducted an unspecified number of residents."

Osoba's statement blamed the attack on "terrorists," a term the Nigerian government uses for a variety of armed groups.

A Zamfara police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Bandit gangs operate across swathes of rural northwest and central Nigeria where state presence is weak.

They are known to levy "taxes" on farmers, rustle livestock, raid villages and are implicated in illegal mining operations.

By Gavin Blackburn, EuroNews

Pastor’s Wife and 3 Children kidnapped

Islamic terrorists, suspected to be Boko Haram or the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), abducted the wife of a pastor and their three children on Saturday, July 18, along the Maiduguri-Damasak highway in Northeast Nigeria.

The family of Pastor Moses Guguma was on its way to join him in Damasak when the gunmen stopped their vehicle.

Damasak lies in northern Borno state near the Lake Chad basin, about 100 miles from Maiduguri, the state capital. The surrounding region has experienced repeated attacks, kidnappings and displacement during Nigeria’s long-running conflict with Boko Haram and its splinter factions.

The pastor’s family was traveling in a commercial vehicle from Maiduguri to Damasak, where Pastor Guguma leads the congregation of the Church of Christ in All Nations (COCIN). The vehicle was stopped in the afternoon near a military checkpoint in Kareto village in Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno state.

“The gunmen ordered the pastor’s wife and her children to leave the vehicle but permitted the driver and other passengers to continue their journey because they are all Muslims,” an eyewitness told International Christian Concern (ICC). “They took the pastor’s wife and her three children to the bush, but the Nigerian army could do nothing. He said the place is close to a Nigerian Army checkpoint.”

Pastor Guguma said the trip was expected to reunite the family after days of medical treatment in the hospital. The pastor asked the public to pray for the return of his wife and children.

“My wife was sick,” the pastor said. “She just recovered, and she was discharged from the hospital, coming to my station to see me and continued the ministry. Pray for us. My wife is still recovering from the illness.”

Church members said the pastor’s wife and children were abducted because of their faith. They added that the extremists often ask for a large ransom payment or they kill anyone they’ve captured who refuses to convert to Islam. At the time of this post, no ransom has been demanded.

Boko Haram is a Nigeria-based Islamist terrorist organization formally known as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad. The group seeks to overthrow Nigeria’s secular government and establish a system governed by its interpretation of Islamic law.

The United States designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in November 2013. The group has attacked churches, Christian communities, schools, government institutions, security forces, and Muslims whom it considers opposed to its ideology. Boko Haram was also responsible for the April 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno.

ISWAP traces its origin to Boko Haram’s 2015 pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State group. It later developed into a separate faction operating primarily in northeastern Nigeria and across the Lake Chad region, including areas bordering Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The United States designated ISWAP a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2018. According to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, the organization uses kidnappings, targeted killings, roadside bombs, armed assaults and hostage-taking. Its targets have included Christians, aid workers, government personnel, military forces and civilians who resist its interpretation of Islamic law.

Both Boko Haram and ISWAP are therefore internationally recognized terrorist organizations. Their violence has affected Christians, Muslims and other civilians across northeastern Nigeria, although Christian ministers, churches and families have repeatedly been selected for abduction or execution.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that Boko Haram and ISWAP continued to impose extremist religious beliefs in areas where they operate and remained responsible for serious violations against religious communities. The commission also recorded continuing abductions of pastors, worshippers, women, and children across Nigeria.

Pastor Guguma and his congregation in Damasak are praying for the return of his wife and children.

Persecution.org

Related story: Video - 'We're living in fear': 19 million children in Nigeria are out of school to avoid kidnappings

Video - 'We're living in fear': 19 million children in Nigeria are out of school to avoid kidnappings

The 46 children and teachers that were abducted on May 15th in southwestern state of Oyo were rescued and reunited with their families on July 10th. Since the dramatic abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, Nigeria has been hit with waves of mass kidnappings from schools. 27% of children in Nigeria are out of school, one of the highest rates in the world. The threat of abduction serves as one of the biggest obstacles to children pursuing their education.

France24

Children describe how Nigerian militants moving south are seizing more young captives

Aliyu Saheed feared he might not see his three young sons again. For nearly two months after al-Qaida-linked fighters carried out a mass abduction of schoolchildren in an area of Nigeria formerly free of such attacks, he could hardly sleep at night.

He wondered what the boys were doing in captivity and how his youngest, just 5 years old, would survive.

“The day they told us they had been rescued was the happiest day of my life,” the farmer told The Associated Press, as children returned to the community on Friday to feasting and prayers led by pastors and Islamic clerics.

His boys were among dozens of students abducted from their classrooms in Oriire area of southwestern Oyo state on May 15 before being rescued on July 10.

Children as young as 3 were seized in the attack that awakened many Nigerians to a threat that has been moving south through Africa’s most populous nation in the last year. Competition for territory and control of natural resources has intensified among jihadis and other armed groups as they expand beyond the conflict-battered north to areas largely spared until now.

Nigeria’s forests are used for militants’ expansion

The armed men stormed into the agrarian community and took 39 children from three schools. They were marched, along with teachers, into a vast forest reserve nearby. One teacher was killed in the abduction. Two others were killed in captivity, according to local media.

The forest reserve connects to neighboring Kwara state to the north, which borders northern Nigeria and its long history of mass abductions of students by armed groups, often for ransom. Analysts say children and schools are often seen as strategic targets to draw more attention and higher ransoms.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has said the attackers in Oyo state were Ansaru militants, a breakaway faction of the Boko Haram militant group that claims to defend the interests of Islam and has been more active in recent years.

Authorities said the rescue operation was carried out jointly by the military, intelligence agency and police, and that eight kidnappers were arrested while others were killed.

The abduction turned attention to Nigeria’s lightly policed forest reserves and their use as a corridor and hiding area for armed groups.

“The thing to learn is that the forested areas of the country must be much better surveilled because that is where those armed groups operate and keep their victims,” said Joachim MacEbong, a senior analyst at global risk consultancy firm Control Risks.

Children described being bound and beaten

In interviews with the AP, the children and their parents spoke of horrid conditions in captivity. They said their captors left them in the open without shelter, exposing them to sun and rain.

Saheed’s eldest son, 9-year-old Shuaib, said he and his brothers tried to distract themselves by thinking about the comfort of home and their mother’s cooking. They were fed a basic meal of boiled rice and palm oil, he recalled.

“I could not say anything for fear of getting beaten,” he said. “They flogged us with a cane all over the body, and they hit me in the back with the butt of their gun.”

The militants beat the youngest children the worst and muffled their mouths with cloth so that their cries would not attract attention, Alamu Folawe, the head of one of the schools, told journalists.

Families said some children now have physical scars, and many are still recuperating psychologically.

Aduke Balogun’s daughter, 8-year-old Kehinde Kaosarat, was one of the last to be discharged from the hospital. She has not left her mother’s side since she returned home on Friday.

While in captivity, the girl said, she could not eat or sleep because “I kept imagining the worst things.”

Abducted siblings Jacob and Mary told their parents after their release that they didn’t want to return to school, said their father, Gabriel Sunday.

It’s a common concern after such kidnappings in a country that already has one of the world’s highest numbers of children out of school.

“Sending them back to the school does not sound meaningful to me right now,” said Saheed, the father of the three boys.

The spread to the south increases pressure on leaders

Tinubu, elected in 2023 after promising to end the country’s security woes, has come under growing pressure. The U.S. military is supporting Nigerian forces, though much of that is restricted to logistics and intelligence-gathering at the heart of the violence in the north.

Although Tinubu said the Ansaru militants’ network of informants was dismantled during the rescue operation, analysts say the drivers of insecurity, such as corruption and poor governance, remain. And Nigeria’s overstretched security forces are mostly absent in remote communities.

James Barnett, a research fellow with U.S.-based Hudson Institute who specializes in security in Africa, said Ansaru has been building networks in Nigeria’s southwest for many years.

Experts say an attack regarded as successful could inspire more.

Some residents now hesitate to return

Friday’s celebration of the children’s return drew the community of Christians and Muslims together for dancing and a meal to express their gratitude.

“We have all come here to thank God for protecting the children and their teachers and helping the military men who rescued them,” said Tajudeen Abioye, the village chief.

Many residents left the area after the attack but have started trickling back. Although security forces deployed following the mass abduction are still in the area, locals remain anxious, especially farmers whose farms are close to the forest reserve.

“The rescue of the Oriire abductees is wonderful news and should inspire some confidence in Nigeria’s ability to better manage these threats. But it is not the end of insecurity in the southwest or Nigeria as a whole,” Barnett said.

By Pelumi Salako, AP