ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- More than 850 Christians are being held hostage in Rijana Forest, Southern Kaduna, according to a Truth-Nigeria special report cited by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety).
According to testimonies from at least ten freed captives, Rijana Forest hides multiple camps: 11 major camps, each with over 50 hostages (550+ total), 10 smaller camps, each with about 30 hostages (300+ total), combined total: at least 850 Christians in captivity, over 100 murdered between December 2024 and August 2025 and killings often occurred when families could not pay ransom or guards became enraged.
The report also said that similar enclaves exist in Benue State around Otukpo and Katsina-Ala, though killings there are reportedly less brutal than in Rijana.
Freed victims, including three sisters; Maureen, Esther, and Anita confirmed the existence of these camps.
They were abducted, tortured, and released in August 2025 after their family paid N2.3 million ransom.
Maureen recalled: “I saw many big camps, about five, but there could be more. Each of them held over 50 hostages. There were also smaller camps with about 30 people each more than 10 of those.
“Esther and I were kept in one of the smaller camps, numbering 30. Each camp is named after its commander. Ours was called Sanda, after the commander.”
In a press statement issued on Sunday, September 28, 2025 and made available to VONa, the group said that prior to June 2015, public trust in the military stood at about 45 per cent across ethnic and religious lines, but has since dropped to less than 20 per cent, particularly among citizens in the East and minority groups in the North.
The statement was signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, MSc., Criminologist-Researcher and Head of Intersociety; Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq., Head of Civil Liberties and Rule of Law; and Chidinma Udegbunam, Esq., Head of Campaign and Publicity.
Intersociety therefore called on the Nigerian Defence Headquarters and the Nigerian Army to return the Armed Forces of Nigeria to their pre-June 2015 “operational neutrality, secularity and semi-professionalism.”
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It claimed that one of the major challenges facing the military is “lack of neutrality and professional soldiering,” with critics citing alleged “romance with jihadist bandits and their allies in the North through negotiations and pacifications.”
The group also said that such compromises had made it difficult for security forces to distance themselves from attacks that have killed tens of thousands of civilians, displaced millions, and destroyed properties.
“It is shocking and alarming that Nigeria is the only place where terror jihadists under the watch of the military and police are allowed to address world press conferences brandishing loaded automatic rifles and other illicit small arms and light weapons without being disarmed, demobilized, rehabilitated, de-radicalized and transformed into lawful, liberal and tolerant civilian life, using the United Nations’ instruments,” the statement read.
Intersociety accused the military of inconsistency, alleging that while it “romances and pacifies jihadist bandits in the North,” it has unleashed “maximum force and brutalities” in the East, including raids and confiscation of hunting weapons legally classified as “un-prohibited firearms” under Nigeria’s Firearms Act of 2004.
The group also faulted the Nigeria Police Force, especially in the East, where its monitors observed that “more than four of every five roadblock police personnel are extortionist and corruption-friendly, with about 70 per cent of their core duties abandoned.”
Similarly, it alleged that “more than three of every five” soldiers at checkpoints are also “extortionist, corruption and brutality-friendly,” contrary to Section 108 of the Armed Forces Act, which outlaws such practices.
The statement further accused police authorities of relying on “extrajudicial law enforcements, questionable remand orders (Holden Charge), unlawful killings, abductions, disappearances, and indefinite detentions.”
Intersociety also raised concerns about what it described as the “distrustful northernization” of military leadership in the South-East, a region that is over 95 per cent Christian.
The group said such postings, dominated by Northern Muslim officers, fuel perceptions of imbalance and ethno-religious bias.
It listed current postings in Imo State alone as examples: Brigadier Gen. Ibrahim Abbas, Commander, 34 Army Brigade, Obinze, Air Commodore D.E. Bello, Commander, NAF 211 Quick Response Group, Owerri, Navy Commodore M.A. Alhassan, Commander, Naval Base, Oguta and Mallam Aboki Danjuma, Commissioner of Police, Imo State.
“This will give South-Easterners a sense of belonging, confidence and trust in matters of security and safety of their lives, liberties and properties, in addition to ensuring their psychological wellbeing and stability,” the group said.