Nigerian security personnel have rescued 360 hostages, including many women and children, from a mountainous refuge in Borno State, where they had been held by Boko Haram’s Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction. The operation, led by the Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI, targeted the Mandara Mountains in the southern part of the state.
The military confirmed Sunday that the hostages had been abducted by the JAS faction over an indeterminate period from various localities across the region. A collaborative task force, including special forces, compelled JAS militants to flee their positions and liberated the captives.
During the rescue, two children died from exhaustion and severe conditions they endured while in captivity. The military reported these deaths as tragic casualties of the prolonged holding conditions.
The operation was intelligence-driven and focused on the Mandara Mountains, a known stronghold for JAS terrorists. The Mandara range has served as a transit route and enclave for the insurgents, who frequently use the rugged terrain to evade capture.
This rescue comes after a major abduction in Ngoshe village, Gwoza Local Government Area, where 416 people, mostly women and children, were abducted by suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists. Since that tragedy, some of the captives have been rescued, including a recent recovery of six individuals on May 1, 2026, who were reunited with family members in Ngoshe.
Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (Borno South) has hailed the Federal Government and troops for the rescue of the Ngoshe captives from Boko Haram, noting that sustained offensive actions, including air interdiction missions targeting terrorist enclaves in the Mandara Mountains, led to the liberation of captives.
The rescue of 360 hostages is the largest in recent months in Borno State, following similar operations in Sambisa Forest where 350 hostages were freed in 2024, and earlier operations in Gava and Gobara villages in Gwoza where 25 captives were rescued in 2023.
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