Nigerian military rescues 63 civilians from ISIS-Boko Haram

Dozens of Nigerian civilians seized by Islamist militants six months ago have been freed after a military operation in the country’s northeast.

The rescue involved 163 people, according to local officials and church leaders tracking the case. Survivors described torture, forced labor and near-starvation rations during their captivity with an affiliate of ISIS and Boko Haram. “We saw death and suffering every day,” one released woman said. “We were beaten if we prayed or spoke our language.” The militants had abducted the group from farming villages near Lake Chad in March, demanding ransom and pressuring communities to stop cooperating with government forces.

The area has been a flashpoint for years. Boko Haram’s insurgency, now in its fifteenth year, has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced two million across Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The militants still control swathes of territory along porous borders with Niger and Chad, using kidnapping as a main fundraising tactic. Security analysts say the latest rescue reflects a stepped-up military campaign against the jihadis, but also highlights the weakness of local governance that leaves rural communities vulnerable. “These people were forgotten until the cameras arrived,” said a rights worker in Maiduguri.

Details remain scarce. Military spokesmen confirmed the operation but gave no casualty figures for either side. International aid groups say at least 10 of those freed are under 18, including three children born in captivity. The government has not said whether ransom was paid or if military action alone secured the release. Survivors are being screened for disease and trauma at a regional hospital; some are too weak to speak. One pastor who met them said they needed weeks of counseling, not just food and medicine.

What happens next is uncertain. Similar rescues in the past have been followed by fresh kidnappings, as militants try to reassert control. Communities fear retaliation for any perceived cooperation with the state. Aid workers warn that without sustained protection and economic support, the cycle will continue. For now, families are reuniting, but the scars—physical and psychological—will linger. The question is whether Nigeria’s government can break the pattern, or whether the jihadis will keep taking hostages until it does.