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Victims held for six months in captivity at the hands of jihadi kidnappers in Nigeria detailed on Friday the harrowing conditions they were kept in after being liberated in what Nigerian officials are calling the largest rescue operation in the country’s history.
Nigerian forces rescued at least 308 victims from captivity in the past week, with the bulk of the victims coming from two distinct groups. 163 of the victims were taken from the Woro community in Nigeria’s Kwara State in a Feb. 3 raid that saw their jihadi kidnappers kill an additional 160 people in the Woro village.
The victims told the Associated Press that they believed they had been taken as punishment for refusing to accept and acquiesce to the religious preachings of the jihadis.
One woman, Hauwa Saliu, told the outlet that her captors constantly asked the victims if they had accepted jihad yet.
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“We prayed to God to help us go back home, but it never really crossed our minds that we were going to go back home,” she told the outlet.
Another victim, Amira Saliu, described the conditions in which the women and children were being kept, explaining that they were held in a forest near a river, and forced to put out fires and hide when they heard helicopters nearby.
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Saliu, a nurse, also explained how she had to help 10 women give birth with no medical equipment or sanitary gloves.
“I had no choice but to use my bare hands,” she told the outlet.
Mary Ishaya, 44, told the outlet that the captives often went days without food and had to bury other captives who had died.
“I still cannot find the right words to describe what has happened to us. We saw death and suffering,” she said.
The governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, told reporters during a news conference that 46 victims were being treated at a hospital.
“This is indeed, indeed a very sad situation. We’ve not yet come to terms with it. We’re still assessing the situation. As you can see, it’s just kids … children and women that are here today,” he said. “It’s truly a shame that this has happened.”
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The incident highlights the ongoing tensions between Nigeria’s militant Islamic insurgency in the north and the country’s large Christian population, who make up roughly 45% of Nigeria’s citizens.
On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump, in coordination with Nigeria’s government, authorized precision missile strikes on Islamic State-affiliated groups in northern Nigeria, citing the need to protect the country’s Christians.
The U.S. followed up in May, launching coordinated joint military action that reportedly resulted in the death of senior Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Mainuk.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.