Nigerian Forces Free 308 Hostages After 6 Months in Captivity, Exposing Woro Massacre Toll
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 8
Nigerian Forces Free 308 Hostages After 6 Months in Captivity, Exposing Woro Massacre Toll
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 8
Summary
163 captives from Woro were handed to authorities in Ilorin on Friday for treatment after Nigerian forces freed them this week in a wider 308-hostage rescue.
6 months in forest camps left many emaciated, injured and traumatized; survivors described hunger, deaths in captivity and orders to bury fellow hostages.
Feb. 3 militants stormed Woro, killed more than 160 people and abducted residents—mostly women and children—after villagers resisted jihadi preaching, according to locals and survivors.
President Bola Tinubu called it Nigeria’s largest single-day rescue operation, though officials did not explain how troops extracted the hostages from Kainji Lake National Park.
The rescue underscores Nigeria’s widening insecurity as militants push south, while analysts say better prevention—not only military response—is needed despite new pay rises and recruitment.