Several hundred people abducted earlier this year by the jihadist group Boko Haram in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, have been freed, the military and local sources confirmed.

Since 2009, a jihadist insurgency led by Boko Haram and later by its rival, the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap), has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions in the country’s northeast.

Mass kidnappings, with releases often involving ransom payments, are regularly carried out by Islamists. Samaila Kaigama, president of the Borno South Youth Alliance (BOSYA), said he secured the release of 416 women and children taken from Ngoshe.

Two infants died

“They were released on Saturday,” he told journalists. Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume of Borno state confirmed the release.

In a separate statement, the military later put the number at 360, saying they were freed not by Boko Haram but through an operation “based on intelligence.”

The army said it gathered intelligence and conducted “psychological operations” to sow “distrust among the insurgents” before “the assault phase began.”

The victims had been held “in difficult conditions after being abducted from several communities, especially in the Ngoshe axis,” according to the military statement.

“Unfortunately, two infants died from exhaustion due to the prolonged captivity and harsh conditions,” Daniel Bwala, spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu, posted on social media, also citing the 360 figure.

Ransoms, a common practice

The village of Ngoshe lies less than 10 kilometers from the Cameroon border, in the hills of Gwoza, a Boko Haram stronghold, and has been repeatedly targeted by Islamist fighters.

The youth organization leader said he was not aware of the circumstances of the release. His group, BOSYA, which had set up communication channels between the captors and affected families, provided no details.

Authorities deny paying ransoms, though analysts say it is a common practice, both by the government and victims’ families.

Some $1.66 million was paid in ransoms from July 2024 to June 2025 to various armed groups in Nigeria, including jihadists, “bandits,” and separatists, according to a report by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy.