Ishaya Kukah, sibling to Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese, has broken his silence following his rescue from a kidnappers’ camp where he spent days in torment, convinced he wouldn’t survive.
Speaking during a handover ceremony in Abuja, where he and 59 other rescued victims were reunited with loved ones, Kukah recounted the brutal conditions he endured.
The operation that led to their freedom was carried out by the Nigerian Army’s 1 Division in Kaduna, and facilitated by top government officials including NSA Nuhu Ribadu and Defence Minister Abubakar Badaru.
“Frankly speaking, I had already given up. I didn’t think I would come out alive because of how they were treating us in the bush,” Kukah admitted.
He described being shackled with fellow captives, forced to perform all bodily functions in pairs, and regularly subjected to beatings.
“We suffered too much. They used to chain us in twos. If you wanted to defecate or urinate, you had to move together,” he said.
Kukah also revealed that the captors tortured victims to pressure their families into paying ransom, punishing those who refused with severe beatings—or worse.
Grateful for the intervention, he credited the government with saving their lives.
“If not for the federal government, we would still be in the bush. Thank you for what you have done. God bless you,” he said.
