Borno parents beg FG to rescue 52 children, others 90 days after abduction

The parents and relatives of some of the 52 kidnapped children and residents of Borno state, have begged the Federal Government to rescue the Mussa abducted victims after spending 90 days in Boko Haram captivity.

Some of the parents said they have commenced selling their houses and other property in an anticipation of ransom demands by the terror group in Sambisa Forest of the state.

The over 50 victims were kidnapped by gunmen from different parts of the state on April 15, 2026.

The Spokesperson for the families of the abductees, Malam Hassan Yati, told The Guardian on Saturday in Maiduguri that one of the relatives whose two sons were kidnapped had been defrauded of N1.5m out of the N3m demanded by individuals posing as the abductors.

He said the family later discovered that the actual terrorists had neither demanded the money nor authorised anyone to collect ransom on their behalf.

Yati added that the incident had compounded the financial burden on families already struggling to cater to their children.

He also revealed that a woman whose only daughter was kidnapped had sold her family house in the Biu Local Government Area of the state.

“Initially, we thought that it was money the kidnappers wanted. One of the parents with only daughter kidnapped told me she sold her family house in Biu in anticipation, only to hear otherwise

“Even me, I put our family house up for sale, but no one is talking to us again,” he said.

Yati further revealed that he decided to sell his family house because his younger brother and his wife were among those abducted on April 15.

He explained that he had been under pressure from other relatives of the victims, who accused him of withholding information about efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.

“The rest of the parents bombard me with calls and messages. They now accuse me of hiding information,” he said.

Yati said efforts to get the attention of the government had so far yielded no result, leaving the families to endure what he described as prolonged silence from the authorities.

A parent, who sold her house, Mr. Monday Bako, expressed frustration, saying her daughter was kidnapped on January 13.

Bako, a food seller, said, “They kidnapped my daughter since 13th of January till today. I have no idea of where they are and who held her captive. We have not heard anything about her and others abducted in our community.

“I later sold my house to raise money in case we hear any information. We thought they would demand ransom but unfortunately, nothing has been demanded.”

Another parent, whose wife and three-month-old baby are in the terrorists’ den, appealed to the government to expedite action towards their release.

“We are tired of waiting. We are dying in silence. Our appeal to the government is for them to come to our aid,” the source lamented.