Saturday, July 18, 2026

‘Terrorists are teaching us Islamic knowledge,’ Woro hostages cry out, beg Gov Abdulrazaq to rescue them

Terrorists have again paraded hundreds of victims, including women and children, kidnapped from the Woro community in Kwara.

• April 9, 2026
Woro hostages and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
Woro hostages and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

Terrorists have again paraded hundreds of victims, including women and children, kidnapped from the Woro community in Kaiama LGA of Kwara.

Over 200 locals were killed in the community in February. 

In a heart-wrenching video obtained by Peoples Gazette on Thursday, the assailants assembled the kidnap victims and interrogated them.

Many of the victims, who spoke in English, Yoruba, Hausa, Nupe and other languages, narrated their ordeals in captivity and begged the state government to come to their rescue.

One of the victims said that while their captors had continued to feed and teach them basic Islamic knowledge and etiquette, some of them battled various forms of diseases, and others were pregnant.

“Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, we are here today. We are those people picked from Woro in the Kiama Local Government Area of Kwara on February 3. Now we’re in April 8. We’re begging you: this is our last opportunity given to us. We have children and pregnant women among us. There are some with blood cancer among us.

“Please, we’re begging you. They teach us Islamic etiquette. What we don’t know at home, we have known them. We did not know so many things, but they taught us. They are not beating us. In fact, they give us food and water. Everything is available. But we are still begging you. Please, this is our last opportunity,” she said.

Another hostage stated, “Please, we beg the Kwara government to come to our rescue. This is the last opportunity they gave us to leave this place. So we need your support, even though they [terrorists] do not maltreat us.”

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, and the police spokesperson Adetoun-Ejire-Adeyemi did not immediately reply to the Peoples Gazette’s request for comment on the video. 

The video surfaced months after the terrorists invaded Woro and Nuku communities, killed over 200 people and kidnapped 176 others.

In February, the terrorists paraded the abductees and slammed the Abdulrazaq-led government for deliberately misleading Nigerians and the international community over the number of victims kidnapped.

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