They came home thin, traumatised and grieving.
When 360 abductees from Ngoshe community in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State were finally freed from a terrorist enclave in the Mandara Mountains last weekend, the relief was real — but so was the pain they carried back with them.
Six children did not make it home.
Halima Musa, one of the survivors, told reporters that two boys and four girls died while in captivity after falling ill — victims not of bullets, but of hunger and neglect inside a Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) stronghold where food was rationed to one meal a day and medical care did not exist.
“We ate only guinea corn once a day,” she said. “If you ate around 2pm, you would have to wait until the next day before eating again. Sometimes there was no soup. We cooked the food ourselves — they only provided what we were to cook.”
95 Days of Captivity
The 416 residents — mostly women and children — were abducted on March 3, 2026, when armed insurgents stormed the Ngoshe community, overwhelmed the local military base, and disappeared into the mountains with hundreds of civilians.
For 95 days, families waited
The breakthrough came through a coordinated operation by troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), led by Theatre Commander Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, involving Special Operations Forces that first disrupted terrorist camps across multiple fronts before ground troops of the 26 Task Force Brigade moved in to extract the captives.
360 were freed on June 6. By the time state authorities completed their count, the total number of Ngoshe residents who had regained freedom stood at 434. The Borno State Government confirmed that no ransom was paid.
Inside the Enclave
Survivors painted a grim picture of life inside the mountain hideout. Food arrived irregularly, sometimes delivered on motorcycles by fighters who would drop a portion and move the rest along to other terrorist locations — suggesting a wider supply network operating across the Mandara Mountains range.
One freed captive, who asked not to be named, said: “I suspected they might have farms somewhere. From the way the food was being distributed, it was clear this was organised.”
The military later confirmed that the captives received immediate medical screening upon release. Those requiring urgent care were admitted to the General Hospital in Gwoza for treatment.
Borno Governor Babagana Zulum, who had personally visited Ngoshe twice since the attack — including spending a night with displaced residents in Pulka in a show of solidarity — confirmed that the state government had committed millions of naira to the rehabilitation of the Ngoshe community and was distributing food and relief materials to the returned captives.
The Crisis Is Not Over
While the Ngoshe rescue has been rightly celebrated, Borno’s nightmare is far from finished.
The Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Askira, disclosed this week that 42 schoolchildren abducted from Mussa community in Askira-Uba LGA remain in captivity — and there has been no contact whatsoever with their abductors since they were taken three weeks ago. The children, aged between two and 16 years, are still missing.
Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South and hails from Gwoza, welcomed the Ngoshe rescue but immediately called on security forces to intensify efforts for those still held.
“There are still many others in captivity,” he said. “We must not rest.”
What This Means for Nigeria
The Ngoshe rescue is the kind of story Nigeria needs — proof that sustained military intelligence and coordinated operations can produce results. But it also exposes the scale of what the country is still dealing with in the North East.
Hundreds of Nigerians have been abducted, held in mountain enclaves, starved, and returned broken — if they are returned at all. Six children from one community alone never made it back. Dozens more from another community are still somewhere in those mountains tonight.
The military deserves credit for the Ngoshe operation. But as long as children are being taken from classrooms and communities in Borno, the work is unfinished.