Children describe how Nigerian militants moving south are seizing more young captives

ESINELE, Nigeria (AP) — Aliyu Saheed feared he might never see his three young sons again. Al Qaeda-linked fighters mass abducted schoolchildren in one area for nearly two months Nigeria previously free such attacksHe could barely sleep at night.

He wondered what the children were doing in captivity and how the youngest, only 5 years old, would survive.

“The day they told us they were saved was the happiest day of my life,” the farmer told The Associated Press as the children returned to the community Friday for feasts and prayers led by priests and Islamic clerics.

sons Among dozens of students kidnapped They left their classroom in Oriire district of southwestern Oyo state on May 15 before being rescued on July 10.

3-year-old children were also captured in the attack, which alerted many Nigerians to a threat. was moving south Last year through Africa’s most populous country. Competition between jihadists and other armed groups for control of land and natural resources has intensified. conflict-torn north into hitherto largely protected areas.

Nigerian forests are being used for militant expansion

Gunmen raided the farming community and took 39 children from three schools. They were taken with the teachers to a large forest reserve nearby. A teacher lost his life in the kidnapping incident. Two more people were killed in captivity, according to local media reports.

The forest reserve connects to the neighboring Kwara state in northern Nigeria and its long history. mass kidnapping of students Usually by armed groups in exchange for ransom. Analysts say children and schools are often seen as strategic targets to attract more attention and obtain higher ransoms.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the attackers in Oyo state were Ansaru militants, a group that claims to defend the interests of Islam and has split from the more active Boko Haram militant group in recent years.

The rescue operation was carried out jointly by the army, intelligence agency and police, and eight kidnappers were arrested while others were killed, officials said.

The kidnapping has drawn attention to Nigeria’s lightly policed ​​forest reserves and their use as a corridor and hideout for armed groups.

“What needs to be learned is that the country’s forest areas need much better surveillance because that’s where armed groups operate and hide their victims,” said Joachim MacEbong, a senior analyst at global risk consultancy Control Risks.

Children said they were tied and beaten

In interviews with the AP, the children and their parents described horrific conditions in captivity. They said their kidnappers left them in the open without shelter and exposed to the sun and rain.

Saheed’s eldest son Shuaib, 9, said he and his siblings tried to distract themselves by thinking about the comforts of home and their mother’s cooking. He recalled that they were fed a basic diet of boiled rice and palm oil.

“I couldn’t say anything for fear of being beaten,” he said. “They whipped us all over our bodies with canes and hit me on the back with the butt of their guns.”

Alamu Folawe, the principal of one of the schools, told reporters that the militants beat the youngest children in the worst way and covered their mouths with cloth so their screams would not attract attention.

Families said that some children now have physical wounds and most are in the process of psychological recovery.

Aduke Balogun’s 8-year-old daughter, Kehinde Kaosarat, was also one of the last people to be discharged from the hospital. He hasn’t left his mother’s side since returning home on Friday.

The girl said she couldn’t eat or sleep while in captivity because “I was constantly imagining the worst things.”

Their father, Gabriel Sunday, said the kidnapped siblings, Jacob and Mary, told their parents after their release that they did not want to return to school.

In a country that already has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, this is becoming a widespread concern after such kidnappings.

“Sending them back to school doesn’t make sense to me right now,” said Saheed, father of three children.

Expansion to the south increases pressure on leaders

Tinubu, who was elected in 2023 after promising to end the country’s security problems, has come under increasing pressure. The U.S. military supports Nigerian forces, but most are limited to logistics and intelligence gathering at the center of violence in the north.

Although Tinubu said the Ansaru militants’ informant network was dismantled during the rescue operation, analysts say factors of insecurity such as corruption and mismanagement remain. And Nigeria’s overstretched security forces are mostly absent from remote communities.

James Barnett, a research fellow at the US-based Hudson Institute who specializes in security in Africa, said Ansaru had been establishing networks in southwestern Nigeria for many years.

Experts say a successful attack could inspire more.

Some residents are now hesitant to return

Friday’s celebration of the children’s return brought together the Christian and Muslim community to dance and eat to express their gratitude.

“We all came here to thank God for protecting the children and their teachers and helping the soldiers who rescued them,” said Tajudeen Abioye, the village chief.

Following the attack, many residents left the area but began to return. Although security forces deployed after the mass kidnapping are still in the area, locals remain uneasy, especially farmers whose farms are close to the forest reserve.

“The rescue of those abducted in Oriire is great news and should inspire confidence in Nigeria’s ability to better manage these threats. But this is not the end of insecurity in the southwest or throughout Nigeria,” Barnett said. he said.

___

For more information about Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives funding from the Gates Foundation for global health and development coverage in Africa. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropists, a list of supporters and areas of funded coverage AP.org.