Hundreds Of Women And Children Freed From Forced Jihad In Massive Hostage Rescue

Nigerian forces freed at least 308 people held by jihadist kidnappers in the past week in what is being called the largest single-day rescue operation in the country’s history. 

The majority of the victims came from two groups. One hundred sixty-three of the victims were taken from the Woro community in Kwara State during a February 3 raid. In that same attack, the jihadists killed an additional 160 people in the village.

The victims told the Associated Press they believed they had been taken as punishment for refusing to accept the religious preachings of the jihadists. One woman, Hauwa Saliu, said her captors constantly asked the victims if they had accepted jihad yet.

“We prayed to God to help us go back home, but it never really crossed our minds that we were going to go back home,” she said.

Another victim, Amira Saliu, described how the women and children were held in a forest near a river. They were forced to put out fires and hide whenever they heard helicopters nearby. Saliu is a nurse. She said she had to help 10 women give birth with no medical equipment or sanitary gloves.

“I had no choice but to use my bare hands,” she told the outlet.

Mary Ishaya, 44, said the captives often went days without food and had to bury other captives who had died.

“I still cannot find the right words to describe what has happened to us. We saw death and suffering,” she said.

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq told reporters at a news conference that 46 of the victims were being treated at a hospital.

“This is indeed a very sad situation. We’ve not yet come to terms with it. We’re still assessing the situation. As you can see, it’s just kids … children and women that are here today,” he said. “It’s truly a shame that this has happened.”

The rescue comes as Nigeria continues to face militant Islamic insurgency in the north. Christians make up roughly 45% of the country’s citizens.

On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump, working with Nigeria’s government, authorized precision missile strikes on groups affiliated with the Islamic State in northern Nigeria. The stated purpose of the strikes was to protect the country’s Christians. In May, the United States followed with coordinated joint military action that reportedly resulted in the death of senior Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Mainuki.

The same pattern of violence has been seen elsewhere in the country. On June 22, in Kawel village in Bokkos County, Plateau State, Fulani herdsmen killed 28 Christians, including Rev. Markus Nyam, pastor of the Church of Christ in Nations. Resident Jesse Peter Dukut said villagers were trapped inside their homes as the gunmen moved through the community.

“We were inside our houses when the Fulani herdsmen invaded our village,” Dukut said. “If anyone came out of their houses, they were shot at sight. And a sound from any of the houses in the village attracts shooting from the terrorists.”

He said phone and telecom services had been cut so residents could not call for help. The attackers spoke in Fulani and Hausa and called out the names of Christian leaders. Dukut said they killed his uncle and brothers. He narrowly escaped being shot.

Church leaders in Bokkos confirmed Nyam’s death and said they received the news with deep sadness. According to Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List, 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed globally for their faith between October 2024 and September 2025 were Nigerian. That figure represents 72% of the worldwide total number of Christians killed for their faith.

Christian leaders in the region say the attacks by some Fulani herdsmen are driven by efforts to seize fertile farmland as desertification pushes herders south and are also shaped by radical Islamist ideology. 

A 2020 report from the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Belief stated that a radical faction has adopted tactics comparable to Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province and demonstrates a clear intent to target Christians and symbols of Christian identity.

The women and children freed this week spent six months in captivity after the February raid on Woro. Many are still receiving medical care. Nigerian officials continue to assess their condition as the country confronts the scale of the operation and the conditions the hostages endured.