Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
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, July 30, 2026, 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".
The families had previously appealed to security agencies and government authorities to intensify efforts to secure the release of the victims, saying they had now spent 60 days in captivity. The appeal was made during a press briefing held on Saturday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Maiduguri, where the spokesman for the affected families, Hassan Yati, expressed concern over the prolonged silence surrounding the victims' whereabouts. According to Yati, the travellers were abducted on April 15, 2026, after suspected ISWAP/Boko Haram insurgents ambushed two station wagon vehicles along the Biu–Buratai–Kamuya road and took the passengers into the bush. He said the families remain in distress despite recent rescue operations that secured the release of other abducted persons in Borno State, noting that there has been no confirmed information about the 13 victims. Among those abducted, he said, are a nursing mother travelling with her seven-month-old baby, young graduates heading to Maiduguri for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) processing, a married couple from Hawul and several other passengers.
Yati lamented that repeated attacks along the Biu–Maiduguri corridor have continued to endanger commuters despite the road serving as a major route for many communities in the region. He also highlighted the emotional and psychological impact of the abductions on the victims' families, many of whom have spent weeks without any communication from their loved ones. While expressing optimism that the captives could still be rescued, Yati commended recent efforts by security agencies that led to the release of other abducted persons and urged authorities to sustain such operations. The families appealed to President Bola Tinubu, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, the National Security Adviser and other relevant authorities to intensify efforts to secure the release of the captives. They also called for increased security along the Biu–Damaturu–Maiduguri road, improved surveillance, rehabilitation of the highway and stricter passenger transport regulations to enhance the safety of travellers.
Briefing newsmen on Saturday in Maiduguri, Yati said, "Today marks exactly 60 painful days since our people disappeared. Sixty days of unanswered questions, sixty days of sleepless nights, and sixty days of children waiting at the door for parents who never returned home". He added: "On that tragic day, two overloaded golf station wagon vehicles carrying innocent passengers were stopped by armed insurgents and driven into the bush to an unknown destination. Since then, silence has surrounded their fate. Among those abducted was a mother carrying her seven-month-old baby who had only just recovered from illness. There were young graduates travelling to Maiduguri to process their NYSC deployment. There was a husband and wife from Hawul Local Government Area of the state. Two brothers full of dreams. Young men and women hoping to begin new chapters of their lives after years of struggle. None of them imagined that an ordinary journey of less than six hours would become a nightmare stretching into months".
The recurring attacks along the Biu-Damaturu road have become a source of growing concern for residents of Southern Borno Senatorial District. As Yati noted, "Sadly, attacks and abductions along this road are becoming frighteningly common. Yet for many communities across Biu, Hawul, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo and Shani local government areas in Southern Borno Senatorial District, this dangerous road remains the only link to Maiduguri. No Nigerian deserves this suffering. No family deserves to live with this kind of uncertainty. Every passing day deepens the wounds in the hearts of families left behind".
As the 106-day mark approaches, the families of the 13 abducted travellers remain in agonising suspense, hoping that the government will heed the terrorists' demands or launch a rescue operation to bring their loved ones home. The Federal Government has yet to issue an official response to the ransom demand, maintaining its longstanding policy of not negotiating with terrorists. However, with the lives of 13 civilians, including a woman and her infant child, hanging in the balance, the pressure on authorities to act decisively has never been greater.
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