JUST IN: Troops Rescue 12 Teenage Girls Abducted by ISWAP in Borno

Troops under Operation Hadin Kai have rescued 12 teenage girls taken by ISWAP militants in the Mussa district of Askira/Uba LGA in Borno. The girls were abducted on November 23 while working on their farms, an attack that forced many residents to flee to nearby communities.

According to security sources cited by Zagazola Makama, the rescue operation was carried out on Saturday. It remains unclear whether any ransom was involved. The girls have been identified as Fatima Shaibu, Fatima Umaru, Hauwa Abubakar, Saliha Muhammed, Sadiya Umaru, Amira Babel, Zara Adamu, Nana Shaibu, Zainab Musa, Zainab Muhammed, Jamila Saidu and Hauwa Hamidu, aged between 15 and 18. They were taken to a military facility for medical checks and profiling and will be reunited with their families.

The rescue comes amid a surge in attacks, abductions and killings across northern Nigeria. Recent incidents include an ISWAP ambush on a military convoy in Borno that led to the capture and killing of Brigadier General M. Uba, as well as multiple kidnappings across Zamfara, Sokoto and Yobe. More than 200 schoolchildren were seized in separate attacks in Niger and Kebbi, and 38 worshippers were abducted during a church service in Kwara. CAN reported that 50 students escaped after the Niger abduction, though hundreds remain missing. In a rare positive outcome, the 24 schoolgirls abducted in Kebbi and the 38 worshippers taken in Kwara were freed on November 25.