Forgotten by Bola Tinubu, Nuhu Ribadu and The White House?
By Luka Binniyat
(Kaduna) – Seven of the 37 Christians abducted by Fulani terrorists during last Easter Sunday attack on Ariko village in Kachia Local Government Area (LGA) of Southern Kaduna have died in captivity after enduring more than three months of what Dede Laugesen, CEO of Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), has called an “open-air concentration camp.”
The tragic revelation was made on Friday, July 24, by Rueben Buhari, co-founder of the Resilient Aid and Dialogue Initiative (RADi) and former Press Secretary to the late Kaduna State Governor, Sir Patrick Yakowa, in a Facebook post that painted a grim picture of life inside the terrorists’ camp.
Buhari, an native of nearby Awon village, who said he has relatives among the abductees, disclosed that information came from one of the captives who was recently released by the Fulani terrorists, for reasons that he did not state.
Gory Tale of Wickedness
According to him, “two men, two women and three children have died” in the camp.
“Instead of being buried, the bodies are just dragged to a slope and thrown there,” Buhari wrote.
He further revealed that “the child of the woman who gave birth in the camp, for whom a woman had to use her teeth to cut the umbilical cord because nothing sharp was available, is also dead,” Buhari lamented.
“The child survived for almost three weeks,” he said.
The humanitarian worker said conditions in the forest camp are deteriorating rapidly.
“The freed victim said they sleep in the open, with no protection from rain, sun, cold or anything. Rain falls on them, and they then sleep on the wet ground. Most of the remaining children are sick.”
Buhari added that the 11 residents of Awon village about 5 miles West of Ariko, abducted in a separate terrorist raid on April 20, are now being held in the same camp as the Ariko captives.
American NGO Head Denounces the Silence
“In the forest death camps of Nigeria’s Middle Belt, soon after Easter, a child was born,” Laugesen, head of STPC, texted to TruthNigeria.
“The baby lived three weeks before succumbing to starvation. That child never knew freedom, safety, or a mother’s care free from terror. The child witnessed unrelenting torture and hunger in a place designed to extract money from suffering,” Laugesen went on to say.
“This baby is among the littlest victims held in open-air concentration camps while the world largely looks away. These are not abstract statistics. This child, its mother, and the other people taken on Easter Sunday are Christians just like you and me.”
Another Woman Gives Birth and Loses Child
He disclosed that one of the Awon women, who was heavily pregnant when abducted, delivered a baby in captivity about two weeks ago, but the newborn died the following day.
“As of today,” Buhari wrote, “the Ariko victims have spent 110 days in captivity while the Awon victims have spent 95 days in the same terrorist camp. Please pray for their freedom.”
The Ariko Christians were abducted on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026, when heavily armed Fulani ethnic attackers stormed worship services at First ECWA Church and St. Augustine Catholic Church, killing worshippers and taking dozens of women, children and elderly persons into the forest. Initial claims that security forces rescued the victims later collapsed after community leaders denied any such operation.
TruthNigeria later reported that the 37 hostages remained in captivity after more than 70 days, with families accusing authorities of abandoning them despite repeated appeals.
The tragedy in Ariko mirrors similar mass kidnappings in other Middle Belt communities this year.
Similar Mass Hostages Still With Terrorists
Between February 3 and 4, 2026, jihadist militants attacked Wuro and nearby Nuku communities in Kaiama (LGA) of Kwara State, killing more than 200 people, according to local accounts and humanitarian organisations, while abducting 176 residents. Till date they are still in captivity.
In Southern Borno, Boko Haram terrorists raided Government Day Secondary School, Mussa, Uba/Askira LGA on May 15, abducting 42 children, including toddlers as young as two years old.
They are yet to be returned.
Barely six weeks later, on June 29, terrorists struck Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, also in Askira/Uba Local Government Area, abducting 36 students and one staff member while examinations were underway and killing at least one teacher.
No news have been heard about them
Responding to hostages still held by Islamists terrorists, the President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Pogu Bitrus told TruthNigeria that the development tragically reinforces its recent warning that abducted citizens from Southern Kaduna, Southern Borno, Kwara and other Middle Belt communities have effectively become Nigeria’s “forgotten children.”
Middle Belt Forum Fumes
Bitrus recalled the MBF July 15, 2026 statement, issued after the successful rescue of abducted schoolchildren in Oyo State, in which it commended the Federal Government for that operation but urged it to deploy the same urgency toward victims still languishing in terrorist camps in the Middle Belt.
“The rescue of the Oyo victims demonstrated that determined action can produce results,” our Forum had said.
“But the same commitment must be extended to the children of Mussa, Lassa, Shikarkir, Ariko, Awon and every other forgotten community across the Middle Belt and the entire Nigeria.”
Bitrus stressed that Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution makes the security and welfare of the people the primary purpose of government, warning that prolonged silence over the fate of these hostages sends “a dangerous message that some Nigerian lives matter less than others.”
Bitrus urged President Bola Tinubu, National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu and security agencies to intensify rescue efforts before more captives perish in the forests.
Luka Binniyat writes for TruthNigeria from Kaduna.
