Nigeria: they demand to free 850 captive Christians in jihadist village

The testimonies of Nigerians kidnapped by pastors Fulani jihadists have revealed that hundreds of Christians remain captive to the Islamist group in the infamous forest of Rijana, in the southern part of the state of Kaduna, Nigeria.

In a statement shared with aci Africa – an agriculture in Ewtn News – on September 28, the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) denounced the persecution of Christians allegedly retained near a military position and said that the victims must be released.

Intersociety researchers cited a report published by Truthnigeria at the beginning of the month entitled “Inside Rijana: Nigeria’s Forest of Hostage” (within Rijana: the Nigeria hostage forest), which compiled testimonies of victims of jihadist attacks. These reported how they were taken to Rijana’s enclave, an extensive hidden settlement in the forest, “as a secret people in themselves.”

The victims, retained for months, said they had seen 11 big camps in Rijana, each with more than 50 captives. They also identified 10 smaller camps with around 30 captives each. The total number of Christians held in the village, until August, was estimated at 850.

Intersociety researchers consider inconceivable that the captives are held near military bases and that nothing is done to rescue them.

“No less than 850 Christian hostages rot within the Rijana forest, near a base of the Nigerian army and others in Kachia County, in the southern part of the state of Kaduna,” they said, citing the Truthnigeria report.

Criticizing the inaction of the Nigerian authorities before the situation of the Christians who continue to suffer in Rijana, the researchers stressed: “The forest is located along the Kaduna-Abuja highway and houses the Hill Table Training area of ​​the Nigerian army and the Army Artillery School, among other military sites.

Intersociety researchers also pointed out that the state of Kaduna “has probably registered the largest number of Christians kidnapped in Nigeria in the last nine or ten months”, between December 2, 2024 and September 28, 2025, “with no less than 1,100 cases.”

Testimonies of the victims

The Truthnigeria report details the experience of Esther Emmanuel, 32, and her daughter Anita, 10 months, kidnapped from her home in the village of Gaude, state of Kaduna, the night of June 4.

That same night, the terrorists Fulani also kidnapped Maureen Mica, a 35 -year -old farmer.

Describing the jihadist hiding place in Rijana, Mica told Truthnigeria: “I saw many large camps, about five, although they could be more. Each one housed more than 50 hostages. There were also smaller camps with about 30 people each, more than 10 of those. Esther and I were in one of the little ones, with 30 people. Each camp bears the name of his commander. Commander. “

Mica reported that life in the camp was brutal and that the captives survived with cornmeal, often without soup, and were frequently beaten.

“Sometimes we spent seven days without food,” he said, adding: “If the baby Anita cried, the terrorists whipped the girl, her mother and me.”

Confirming cruelty, Emmanuel told Truthnigeria: “They forbade us to speak, look them in the eye and pray Christian sentences. Once, when my baby cried, I tried to breastfeed her. A terrorist snatched it. Instead of calming her, she covered her mouth and nose, drowning her.

“Prayer was our only comfort,” he added. “In our camp they executed two people because their parents could not pay the rescue. In large camps, executions were more frequent. Every time we heard shots, we knew someone had been killed. Four bursts used to mean that two people had been executed.”

Criticism of the army

Meanwhile, Intersociety researchers asked Nigeria’s army to be what it was before losing the population’s confidence.

They pointed out that, before June 2015, the Nigerian army was recognized for its “neutrality, secularism and semiprofesionalism”, qualities that, they affirmed, inspired public confidence.

Over time, trust, which Intersociety estimated at 45%, was drastically reduced to “less than 20%… especially among East civilians and members of ethnic and minority religious groups of the north.”

The researchers denounced the lack of neutrality of the military authorities, noting that the situation is marked by a “complacency relationship with jihadist bandits and their allies in the north”.

The group criticized the “negotiations and appeasements” between the army and jihadist bandits, which warned, has made it difficult for the government and security forces to detach them from attacks, especially those directed against Christians.

The researchers said that it is inconceivable that, while jihadists carry weapons freely in their attacks against mostly Christian populations, Christians, on the other hand, are not allowed to have weapons to defend themselves.

Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published in ACO Africa.