Thirteen captives died and 12 children were left behind in a terrorist hideout after nearly six months in captivity following the February abduction of residents of Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, survivors have disclosed.
The revelation emerged on Friday when some of the freed victims were formally received by the Kwara State Government in Ilorin, two days after their release from captivity.
One of the survivors, Nafisat Abdulfatai, said the children remained in the forest because their captors threatened that anyone attempting to leave would be turned into a slave.
She said two of the children were specifically prevented from leaving because the terrorists considered them old enough to remain behind.
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Nafisat said the prolonged captivity was marked by severe food shortages, with the captives often receiving only one meal a day. She explained that their meals were largely prepared with salt and consumed without oil or other ingredients.
She said, “There were days when we had nothing to eat from morning until night. Sometimes, our only meal came around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m..”
The survivor also recounted how the captives endured the weather in the open forest before a makeshift shelter was constructed after several children died.
She revealed that 176 people were initially abducted from Woro, while another 76 captives from a different settlement were later brought into the same location.
According to her, overcrowding made the conditions worse, with some victims forced to sleep on top of one another whenever rain fell.
The captivity also took a toll on pregnant women and newborns. Nafisat said about six or seven women gave birth while in the forest, but some of the babies died.
Several of the rescued victims are now receiving medical treatment, she added, noting that some are still seriously ill after months of deprivation.
Another survivor, Nafisat Yusuf, described the experience as unbearable and said many captives remained sick throughout their detention.
She said soldiers eventually arrived to evacuate the victims, even as the survivors did not know the identities of the personnel involved in the rescue.
The victims were abducted on February 3 when gunmen, believed to be members of Boko Haram, attacked Woro and neighbouring Nuku. The attackers reportedly arrived on motorcycles, while the communities had previously resisted the group’s extremist ideology.
The assault left homes, shops, and the traditional ruler’s palace burnt, while several residents were killed, according to the account contained in the report.
She said the attack unfolded so quickly that she did not know what happened in the community after she and others were taken away.
Nafisat Abdulfatai, who expressed relief at seeing her family again, said some children had become orphans during the ordeal.
The freed victims have now returned from a captivity that lasted almost six months, but the disclosure that 12 children remain behind leaves families facing another agonising wait for their recovery.
The survivors appealed for the remaining children to be brought home safely.
