Fifteen Nigerians escape their jihadist captors

Six women and nine children abducted by jihadists from their Christian communities in northeast Nigeria escaped their captors, walking six days through the bush to freedom, a local official said on Monday.

These 15 people had been captured several months ago, according to Zuwaira Gambo, commissioner for women's rights in Borno state.

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Three women and their five children were kidnapped in October 2020 in Takulashi village, located in Chibok district of Borno state, and three women and their four children in May in Kufre village, located in the district. Hong from neighboring Adamawa state, she said. In 2014, some 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Chibok by Boko Haram, bringing the jihadist group worldwide notoriety. The 15 escapees, including an eight-month-pregnant woman from Kufre, walked from the Buni Yadi forest, located in the nearby Yobe state, to the town of Damboa, in Borno, a distance of about 90 km, according to Zuwaira Gambo.

"They have shown tenacity to walk in the bush for six days,"

said the commissioner, presenting the escapees to the governor of Borno, Babagana Zulum, and to Christian dignitaries. The Buni Yadi forest is known to shelter the jihadists of the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap), linked to the Islamic State group and resulting from a split with Boko Haram. Iswap has since become the dominant force in the region. Babagana Zulum expressed her joy that the 15 women and children were able to escape

, a phrase that Nigerian officials use to refer to the two jihadist groups.

Boko Haram and Iswap often abduct women.

They have been waging a 12-year war against the Nigerian state, and sometimes among themselves, which has claimed the lives of over 40,000 people and displaced over two million.