Suspected terrorists have released a distressing video showing two young women they abducted over a month ago, parading them in captivity while the victims plead for rescue.
In the footage circulating on social media, the women appear exhausted, traumatised, with swollen faces and wearing dirty clothes. They are seen crying uncontrollably and repeatedly begging: “Please help us. Help us out.”
One of the captors, speaking in Hausa, is heard taunting them and coercing them to speak louder about their ordeal.
Aisha Al-Mustapha, a teacher who shared the video on X, identified one of the captives as her friend Maryam. She revealed that Maryam was kidnapped while travelling from Zamfara State to Sokoto State to resume school.
“My friend Maryam has been in captivity for the past month. Her only sin was travelling to go to school from Zamfara to Sokoto,” Aisha wrote.
“It really pains me how banditry has been normalised and human beings are being priced like animals.”
The exact location and date of the abduction remain unclear, but the women are believed to have been held for over a month by criminal elements operating in forested areas spanning Zamfara and Sokoto states.
The video has sparked widespread outrage and renewed concern over escalating insecurity in Nigeria’s North-West region, where banditry, mass kidnappings, and attacks on commuters, students, and rural communities have become disturbingly frequent.
Despite repeated military operations and government assurances, many residents in Zamfara, Sokoto, and neighbouring states continue to live under constant threat from heavily armed gangs operating with near-impunity.
The emergence of the video has intensified calls for decisive action to secure major highways, protect vulnerable travellers especially schoolchildren and dismantle bandit enclaves in the region.
