After 6 Years In Boko Haram Captivity, 2 Minors Regain Freedom

Borno State Police Command has confirmed that two minors, Ayuba Ishaku, 12; and Yakubu Haruna, 13, have escaped from captivity nearly six years after Boko Haram abducted them.

The two boys who are both natives of Mandaragrau Village in Biu local government area, were kidnapped when they were six and seven years old respectively on December 29, 2019.

According to the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Nahum Daso, the children walked into the Divisional Police Headquarters on July 12 at about 5:30p.m where they narrated their ordeal and miraculous escape.

“We have a case like that. The boys were abducted on 29 December, 2019, and were kept in Boko Haram custody during the period of their abduction before they managed to escape.

“They were abducted when they were six and seven years old respectively,” Daso said.

According to the police, Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped the boys alongside their parents six years ago.

However, the terrorists later abandoned the parents by the roadside after considering them too weak to continue the journey to their enclave.

The boys reported that the terrorists took them and seven unidentified adult male captives to a hideout in Mangari, Tumbun Mota area of Baga in Kukawa local government area of the state.

The terrorists reportedly trained and armed the adult captives before deploying them in combat alongside fighters of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP).

According to the boys, the terrorists used them as domestic servants and trained them in firearm maintenance, although they were never allowed to join combat missions.

They said they had secretly planned their escape for months. On July 10, 2025, they fled when most of the fighters had gone on an operation and the remaining guards were fast asleep.

The boys also revealed that they trekked through the bush to a nearby village and eventually reached Maiduguri at about 4:45 p.m. on July 12.