For six months, the dense forests of Southern Kaduna became a living prison for a pregnant mother and her three young daughters. Inside that wilderness she gave birth, watched her newborn die, and fought daily to keep her remaining children alive under the guns of their abductors.
When freedom finally arrived, it came on foot — a punishing trek that claimed the life of her four-year-old daughter, Christy. The mother’s return home was not a celebration but a homecoming marked by grief, exhaustion, and the harsh truth that for many families in Southern Kaduna, surviving captivity is only the start of another painful chapter.
The woman, whose identity was withheld in a statement by security analyst and former Kaduna governorship aide Reuben Buhari, was seized from Ariko village in Kachia Local Government Area on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026. Gunmen stormed the community during church services, killing five people — including 82-year-old Tango Aruna — and abducting 37 worshippers. Among those taken were the pregnant mother and her daughters aged four, six and 12.
What followed was nearly 180 days of hunger, exhaustion, childbirth and death. The family remained in the abductors’ camp until last Saturday, when the mother and her surviving daughters managed to escape. Weak and desperate, they began the long walk through the bush toward safety.
Christy, already ill, could not endure the journey. Her mother carried her on her back until exhaustion forced her to hand the child to her 12-year-old sister. The little girl died before the family reached a community in Kachia Local Government Area the following day.
That loss compounded an earlier tragedy. The mother had given birth inside the camp, only for the newborn to die about three weeks later. The exact circumstances remain unclear, but the deaths underscore the brutal conditions faced by abductees in the forests of Southern Kaduna.
Community youth Luka Ayuba, who spoke to The Nation, described the survivors as “critically ill, weak and completely exhausted” upon arrival. Residents immediately mobilised to provide food, support and urgent medical care. “They have suffered a lot,” Ayuba said, noting the visible effects of prolonged hunger, illness and exposure.
Yet the family’s ordeal is far from isolated. Buhari reported that 33 other abductees from Ariko, plus 11 people kidnapped from neighbouring Awon village, remain in captivity. The Concerned Ariko Youths, in a statement signed by Linus Audu and Kefas Likita, described the Easter attack as a tragic assault on worshippers that left families traumatised. Abductors initially demanded ₦1 billion and 35 motorcycles for the remaining captives — a sum far beyond the reach of a rural community.
A parallel tragedy unfolded for Joy Samuel, one of 11 people seized from Awon on April 20, 2026. Also pregnant at the time of her abduction and taken with her young daughter Silvia, Joy gave birth in the same camp. Her newborn died there. After roughly five months in captivity, Joy herself died on August 28. Silvia, now three, remains with the abductors and is said to be in critical condition, along with other minors including 14-year-olds Faith Kefas and Racheel Bulus, who reportedly have gone months with little more than river water.
Survivors and relatives say three of the Awon captives have already died, among them 34-year-old Yusuf Bawa and his five-year-old son, both claimed by hunger and illness. Abductors later reduced their demand to ₦9 million and four motorcycles for the last seven victims, but families still struggle to raise even that amount.
The two mothers — known in accounts as Mama Sonia from Ariko and Joy Samuel from Awon — shared nearly identical beginnings: both pregnant, both taken with daughters, both forced to give birth without medical care, both losing their newborns. Their endings diverged sharply. Mama Sonia escaped and reached safety with two daughters, though Christy died on the journey. Joy died in the camp, leaving Silvia behind.
Their stories reveal the true human cost of the insecurity that has plagued Southern Kaduna. Kidnapping is not merely a matter of numbers or ransom figures. It is about interrupted lives, children growing up in fear, mothers delivering babies in the bush, and families waiting daily for news that could bring either hope or heartbreak.
As the Ariko survivors begin the long process of physical and emotional recovery, the remaining captives continue to wait in the forest. Community leaders have called on Kachia Local Government, the Kaduna State Government and the Federal Government to intensify rescue efforts and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Every passing day deepens the fear of another death. And somewhere beyond the settlements of Kachia, children still listen for the footsteps that might finally lead them home.
