Eight of 37 Ariko Hostages in Rijana Gulag Reported Dead 

Escapee Gives Details to Humanitarian Aid Worker

By Luka Binniyat 

(Kaduna) At least eight of the 37 hostages taken from Ariko village, Kachia Local Government Area (LGA) of Southern Kaduna on April 6, 2026 during last Easter Sunday Worship have been reported dead.

This is the report of a survivor who escaped from the camp, who painted a heart-breaking  picture of the severe daily living conditions that hostages  go through at the hands of the Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) camp believed to be in a network of camps known as “Rijana” in Kachia LGA. Survivors of the camp have been interviewed on video 17 times by TruthNigeria reporters since early 2025, yet no Nigerian news organizations have acknowledged the network since the TruthNigeria series began. 

Police and military officials have refused calls from TruthNigeria reporters seeking comment. 

Representatives of the Nigerian Foreign Ministry reportedly met with U.S. State Department senior officials Wednesday, Aug. 12,  to review Nigeria’s track record of responding to mass persecution of Nigerian Christians. However, the U.S. government currently does not track Fulani Ethnic Militia, the overseers of Rijana, as a terrorist group.  

The alleged death of the captives was made public through the official Facebook page of former Nigeria Minister of Sport and Youth Development, Hon. Solomon Dalung (Esq) Thursday August 13, 2026.

“Twenty-eight days ago, I wrote about the 37 worshippers abducted from Churches in Ariko, Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State, and how they had spent 100 days in captivity,” he writes

“Today, I am writing about them again, but this time with a heavier heart.

“Some of the people we were praying would come home alive have reportedly died in captivity,” he says.

“At least eight victims from the Ariko and neighbouring communities have reportedly died after spending months in the hands of their abductors. 

Reports of the conditions in which they were held are disturbing: exposure to rain and sun, inadequate food, sickness and the absence of even the most basic necessities,” he adds

“Then came another story that is almost impossible to read without imagining the human pain behind it.

Woman Loses Child As She Escapes with Children 

“A woman abducted from Ariko reportedly escaped with her three surviving daughters after about six months in captivity but lost her four-yea-old due to sickness and starvation.

“One of the children, four-year-old Christy, was too weak to continue the journey. 

“She died while they were making their way home.

“Her mother and sisters reportedly had to carry her body until they reached a community where they could finally receive help.

Memory of Ariko Fading?

“This is what over 100 days in captivity means when the headlines disappear.

“The question should not be whether Nigerians still remember Ariko. The question should be why citizens can be held for months, some reportedly dying in captivity, while the national conversation moves on to the next crisis.

Daily Hell In Terrorists Camps

According to Reuben Buhari, Co-founder Resilience Aid Dialogue Initiative (RADi), he was able to interview a former hostage from Ariko  who escaped from the FEM terrorists last week.

Buhari,  spoke to the victim whose identity he concealed, on his hospital bed at an undisclosed hospital in Kaduna town.  

The survivors of Ariko likely suffered severe beatings following the reported escapes. “If anyone escapes, the whole group is flogged for days,” the male survivor told Buhari.

 “This is what a typical day is like in the kidnappers’ den, according to someone who spent more than 100 days in a camp near Rijana and escaped,” he wrote on his Facebook page Thursday August 13, 2026.

 “It held kidnapped victims from Kajuru, Kachia, Chikun LGAs, and a few other places, taken from homes, farms, or the roads. 

“The victims from Ariko, Awon, and Ungwan Atiku are all here,” Buhari was told.

“Men and women are divided:

“In the morning, the kidnappers decide when the victims wake up.  If you wake up, you will lie down again until you are asked to sit up.  But no one stands up yet. 

“Around 10 or 11 a.m., they are asked to stand up and go to the nearby bush to relieve themselves while the bandits stand guard. 

“Everyone returns and is asked to sit down. They will now sit there for the whole day – in the rain or in the sun.

 “No one is allowed to speak any language other than Hausa if the bandits are nearby. 

“No one is allowed to stand or sleep during the day. If anyone wants to drink water, they must ask for permission, which is at the discretion of the person in charge of granting or denying it. They have gallons of water that they have fetched from the river.

He cited the victim as saying that the hostages are marched to the river once every two weeks to bathe. No soap, nothing. They scrub their skin with their hands and try to remove the lice from their heads.

The victim told Buhari that sometimes, some are selected to go into the nearby bush and look for firewood. Sometimes, they are also allowed to go and look for leaves that they can boil and eat, he added

“If a child is sick, sometimes the mother or father is allowed to go and look for any herbal leaves that they can boil and give to the child,” he revealed.

He said that dysentery is a common sickness that has killed so many. 

“You will purge for days, grow weak, and eventually die. Fever, too!” he said.

“A  woman who is menstruating and doesn’t get permission to go and wash sits there, menstruates, and dries there. 

“If a pregnant woman is about to give birth, the bandits provide one bar of soap, while other women gather to help with the birth.” he said.

According to him, general beatings are constant, especially against men. Sometimes, the beatings are carried out without any reason, he said.

“If anyone is purging and the bandits refuse permission, the person does so while sitting among people.

“If anyone is caught trying to escape, if it’s a man, he is brought and shot in full view of everyone. 

“If it’s a woman, she is handed over to be repeatedly raped.

“When they came into the camp earlier, they were given ground maize flour to make tuwo (swallow), but after a while, it stopped. They drink only water for weeks,” he said.

Luka Binniyat writes on Conflict and Politics for TruthNigeria from Kaduna.

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