Government Lauds its Hostage Rescues while Ignoring the Elephant in the Room
In Brief
By Mike Odeh James and Luka Binniyat
(Kaduna) After nearly four months in hell, 25 Christian survivors staggered out of a forest encampment south of Kaduna City, praising God and gasping for food and water on April first. They were in Rijana Forest, Chikun County in Kaduna State, Northwestern Nigeria.
They recounted to TruthNigeria reporters they had seen loved ones shot down in front of them and small children collapse from starvation, but their faith had kept them alive.
The freed victims were released on April 2, 2025, after payment of ransom money demanded by the terrorists.
The Nigerian authorities rescued 59 hostages who were held somewhere in Rijana and celebrated their rescue at a public ceremony in Abuja on Feb. 18, 2025, calling it a “another significant feat by the Federal Government of Nigeria.” The Nigerian Counter Terrorism Center reported that the victims had been abducted along the Abuja Kaduna Expressway, particularly along the railway town of Rijana.
The government’s fulsome claims are belied by the fact that no Nigerian agency has acknowledged or denied the TruthNigeria reportage of a series of interconnected camps in Rijana were up to 800 hostages have been systematically tortured, starved and murdered, until ransoms are paid. Hundreds remain there today. Following is an unabridged account of the Rijana Horror Camp as of April 4, 2025.
TruthNigeria reports that their nightmare began December 2, 2024, when Fulani Ethnic militia stormed Bandi-Nasarawa village in Kauru county of Kaduna State, killing four people and abducting more than 35 individuals, including a two-week-old baby, a six-year-old girl, and two twelve-year-old girls.
TruthNigeria also reported that the Fulani terrorists took their victims to the notorious Rijana forest south of Kaduna City, where terrorists maintain a sprawling camp hidden by forest canopy.
On February 25, 2025, TruthNigeria exclusively reported the rescue of eight of those kidnapped. The Rescue team was organized by Iowa-based Equipping the Persecuted and Nigeria-based Equipping the Needy Initiative members in Maro, in Kajuru county.
A Modern-Day Concentration Camp in Rijana
The Rijana camp, which reportedly has four related camps attached to it, is hidden deep within the forests along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, midway between Shiroro in Niger State, and Kaduna metropolis. Here, hundreds of Nigerian Christians are held captive under brutal conditions reminiscent of World War II concentration camps.
See the full story of the Rijana Horror update here: link.
Mike Odeh James and Luka Binniyat are conflict reporters for TruthNigeria.
