BY : Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor
Three of 11 people seized from Nigeria’s Kaduna state have died while being held captive in the same forest hideout used to confine 37 worshippers taken during Easter Sunday services at three churches in a nearby community.
The three made up part of a group of 11 people seized from Awon area on April 20 by heavily armed Fulani militia in Kachia Local Government Area, according to the U.K.-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
Militants confined the captives at the same forest hideout used to hold 37 worshippers kidnapped in coordinated attacks on three churches in Ariko community, also in Kachia LGA, during Easter Sunday services on April 5.
One of the 11 captives from Awon later escaped. Joy Samuel gave birth in the camp, and the baby died. Samuel herself died on Aug. 28. Her 3-year-old daughter, Silvia Samuel, was seized alongside her mother and is said to be in critical condition.
A woman from Ariko gave birth while in captivity, and the baby died about two weeks later. In early August, she escaped with her three other children, ages 4, 6 and 12. The youngest of the three was already critically ill and died while her mother carried her through the forest during the escape. The 12-year-old sibling then carried the child’s body after their mother grew too weak from hunger to continue.
Yusuf Bawa, 34, and his 5-year-old son died of illness and severe hunger. Faith Kefas, 14, and Rachel Bulus, also 14, are reported to be gravely ill after months of surviving on nothing but river water.
The kidnappers initially demanded 300 million naira, about $225,700, and 23 motorcycles for the group’s release. They rejected a counter-offer of several million naira from the community and threatened to withhold food from the captives until the ransom was paid.
The kidnappers have since lowered their demand to 9 million naira, about $6,770, plus four motorcycles, in exchange for freeing the seven captives who remain, acknowledging that those captives are in extremely poor condition from illness and hunger.
CSW President Mervyn Thomas said, “Our hearts break at the horrific circumstances,” and extended condolences to the families of those who died.
Thomas called on state and federal authorities to intensify efforts to free all captives, including the children held in Borno state, several of whom are young. He also urged the government to adopt a comprehensive security strategy to protect vulnerable communities from armed groups operating with impunity.
Nigeria has continued to see ransom-driven mass kidnappings increase, with hundreds of people held in what the advocacy group called the normalization of prolonged captivity while payment is negotiated.
In one example, 42 schoolchildren abducted on May 15 from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira area in Uba LGA in Borno state by suspected Boko Haram militants remain in captivity more than 100 days later, according to CSW.
Thirty-six students and a teacher abducted on June 29 from Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, also in Askira area, remain captive as well.
The abductions form part of a six-year pattern documented by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, a nongovernmental research group, which recorded 34,773 civilian abductions in Nigeria from October 2019 to September 2025, including 15,932 Christians, 15,272 Muslims, 252 adherents of African traditional religions and 3,317 people whose religious identity could not be determined.
Kaduna state accounted for the largest share of civilian abductions overall and of Christian civilians abducted specifically, at 26% and 42% respectively, and the country’s Northwest zone recorded the most abductions of any region over the same period.
The same research counted 4,590 attacks involving abductions over the six years, an average of two a day, and found that unidentified armed groups carried out 49% of civilian abductions and Fulani-linked terror groups 43%, with Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West Africa affiliate together responsible for the remaining 6%.
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