Capture d’écran d’une vidéo de Boko Haram datant du 31 octobre 2014. Abubakar Shekau, le chef de la secte, se trouve au milieu de la photo. © APMore than 400 people kidnapped by Boko Haram earlier this year in a northeastern Nigerian village have been freed, according to a local senator and a youth group official on Sunday, June 7. The hostages were taken from Ngoshe, a community in Borno state.
Samaila Kaigama, president of the Borno South Youth Alliance (Bosya), stated that 416 women and children abducted from Ngoshe were released on Saturday. Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume of Borno state confirmed the release but said he did not know the exact circumstances behind the operation.
Bosya, which acted as an intermediary between the captors and the hostages’ families, provided no further details. No information was given about any ransom payment or involvement by security forces.
A region repeatedly targeted by attacks
Located less than 10 kilometers from the Cameroonian border, Ngoshe sits in the Gwoza hills, an area considered a Boko Haram stronghold and frequently hit by assaults. Since 2009, the insurgency led by Boko Haram and later by its rival West African branch ISWAP has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions across northeastern Nigeria.
