Suspected Boko Haram terrorists who have held 13 kidnapped travellers captive for the past 15 weeks have demanded that the Nigerian government negotiate with them and pay a ransom before the victims, including a woman and her seven-month-old baby, can regain their freedom.
The latest development comes more than three months after the travellers were abducted along the volatile Biu-Damaturu highway in Borno State, with their families repeatedly accusing both the Federal Government and the Borno State Government of abandoning them.
A family source told SaharaReporters on Thursday that one of the captives was recently allowed to speak with his brother over the telephone, during which the terrorists conveyed their demand for government intervention.
“Yes, one of the victims… My wife was among those inside the vehicle. They gave one of the victims a phone and he reached out to his brother here in Abuja,” the source said. “So, they are demanding that the government should come and pay a ransom and release them.”
According to the source, the hostage identified himself and confirmed details surrounding the abduction to assure his family that he was indeed speaking from captivity.
“He even confirmed the date that they were kidnapped, and his name, and all these things for proper identification,” the source added.
“So, that’s what they are demanding, that the government should come and pay before they release them.
“That’s what they are telling us. And we have reached out to the government, but government has not said anything about it.”
The 13 travellers were kidnapped on April 15, 2026, and their families fear their conditions may have deteriorated after spending more than three months in terrorist captivity.
One of the abducted women is also believed to have given birth while in captivity, heightening concerns about the health and safety of both the mother and the newborn baby.
SaharaReporters had previously reported that the victims’ families accused the Federal Government and the Borno State Government of maintaining what they described as a “conspicuous silence” over the fate of the abducted travellers.
The victims were seized near the notorious Kamuya axis along the Biu-Damaturu highway when heavily armed insurgents riding motorcycles intercepted two commercial Golf Wagon vehicles.
While the drivers and some elderly and visibly ill passengers were released, the terrorists reportedly forced 13 others, including women and a sick infant, into the Sambisa Forest corridor.
One of the victims, according to her husband, Musa Abdullahi, was returning from an Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) verification exercise after securing employment in Hawul Local Government Area.
Speaking to SaharaReporters earlier, Abdullahi recalled how his wife pleaded with the gunmen to spare her because their seven-month-old baby had only recently been discharged from the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
“Even my wife cried and begged them that her baby was not fine,” he said.
“Despite her pleas, they insisted she must enter the bush because they found her credentials inside her bag. They tore up all her credentials right there in front of her.”
The victims’ families have also alleged that the terrorists deliberately targeted Christians during the abduction.
“Most of us are Christians,” Abdullahi earlier told SaharaReporters.
“Out of the 13 people taken, I think only two or three are Muslims. Almost all of us are Christians, and there are husbands and wives inside that car who were all abducted together.”
Another relative, Hassan Yati, whose brother and sister-in-law remain among the captives, had lamented what he described as the complete absence of communication from government authorities and security agencies.
“We are dying in silence,” he said.
The latest contact from the kidnappers marks the first indication that they are willing to negotiate, but only if the government enters discussions and pays a ransom for the captives’ release.
Despite the families’ renewed appeals following the phone call from captivity, they say they have yet to receive any response from government authorities regarding the terrorists’ demands.
The terrorists’ demand comes despite Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which criminalises the payment of ransom to terrorists and kidnappers, prescribing penalties of up to 15 years’ imprisonment for offenders.Â
The Federal Government has also consistently maintained that it does not negotiate with terrorists, arguing that ransom payments fuel further kidnappings and terrorism.
(SaharaReporters)