Two 13-year-old boys, Ayuba Ishaku and Yakubu Haruna, have escaped from Boko Haram captivity in Borno State, four years after they were abducted alongside women and children from Mandaragrau village in Biu Local Government Area.
The minors regained their freedom on July 8, 2025, after carefully planning their escape while the insurgents were away on an operation. They wandered through the bush for days, finally arriving at the ITE Divisional Police Headquarters in Maiduguri on July 12.
Spokesperson of the Borno State Police Command, ASP Nahum Daso, confirmed the development in a statement issued Tuesday.
According to the police, the boys narrated how they were captured on December 29, 2019, during a brutal attack on their village and later transported to a Boko Haram camp in the Mangari-Tumbun Mota area of Baga in Kukawa LGA.
“In captivity, they served as domestic aides and were also trained in servicing firearms,” Daso said. “On the night of their escape, they seized the opportunity when most of the terrorists had gone on a mission.”
The police said the boys were immediately taken into protective custody upon arrival and have since been reunited with their families.
The Commissioner of Police in Borno, CP Naziru Abdulmajid, has commended the courage and resilience of the minors while also reaffirming the command’s commitment to supporting victims of insurgency and tracing abducted persons.
Ayuba’s father, Mr. Ishaku Gaji, was able to identify his son, expressing gratitude to the police and describing the reunion as a “miracle after years of heartbreak.”
Boko Haram has continued to use abduction as a strategy of war, with thousands of children, especially from the northeast, forcefully recruited or held in captivity.
While security operations have reclaimed territories in recent years, families of many abductees still await closure.
The Borno State Command has called on the public to report suspicious movements, assuring that every effort is being intensified to rescue others still held by the insurgents.
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