In an upsetting video that has gone viral on social media, terrorists have paraded two young women who were kidnapped more than a month ago. The victims, who were clearly traumatized and worn out, were seen sobbing and begging the public and authorities to secure their release. The women appeared distressed, their faces swollen from prolonged hardship in captivity, and their clothes filthy. They repeatedly cried out, “Please help us. Help us out,” struggling to control their emotions as they addressed the camera.
An armed man was heard insulting the detainees in Hausa at one point, asking them to talk louder about their predicament and seemingly forcing them to recount their experience.
The instructor who posted the video on 𝕏, Aisha Al-Mustapha, recognized one of the women as Maryam, a friend.
She revealed that Maryam was kidnapped on her way to return to school in Sokoto State from Zamfara State.
“My friend Maryam has spent the last month in captivity,” she stated. Traveling from Zamfara to Sokoto for school was her lone transgression.
“The normalization of banditry and the pricing of people like animals truly annoys me.”
Although the precise circumstances of the kidnapping are still unknown, it is thought that the women were detained for more than a month by criminals who operated in forested areas that straddled the states of Sokoto and Zamfara.
The event has increased worries about the growing level of insecurity in the North-West, especially in the states of Zamfara and Sokoto, where attacks on communities, mass kidnappings, and banditry have grown commonplace.
Locals are still upset about the frequent kidnappings that target commuters, students, and rural residents.
Many communities in the region continue to be threatened on a daily basis by heavily armed criminal gangs that operate with relative impunity, despite repeated pledges from government officials and security authorities.
