The news broke this morning like a shockwave across the hardscrabble towns of Borno State: hundreds of captives have been rescued from Boko Haram’s mountain stronghold. For the women and children emerging from the shadows of Sambisa Forest, this is not just a military victory. It is a kitchen table moment. For years, they have been stolen from their fields, their markets, their homes. Now, they face the grinding task of piecing together lives shattered by terror.
The Nigerian military confirmed the operation late last night, describing a coordinated assault that breached the insurgents’ defensive lines. Among the rescued are families who have endured years of forced labour, child soldiers ripped from their villages, and young women subjected to unimaginable brutality. One aid worker told me: “These are not just numbers. These are mothers who have not seen their children smile in years. Farmers who have forgotten the weight of a hoe.”
But here is the rub: freedom is not the finish line. It is the start of a long, painful climb. The real economy of these families has been destroyed. Their homes are burned. Their livestock gone. Their seeds for planting looted. The cost of bread in the camps has already spiked as aid agencies scramble to feed the influx. The union of displaced farmers, the Borno State Farmers’ Association, has called for immediate land redistribution and seed support. “We cannot let them become beggars,” said their secretary. “They need to work. They need to plant.”
The government has promised rehabilitation, but promises are cheap in a region where inflation eats wages and corruption gnaws at aid budgets. Already, there are whispers of delays. The World Food Programme has warned of funding shortfalls. For the freed captives, the battle against Boko Haram may be over, but the war against poverty, hunger, and inequality is just beginning.
This rescue must be matched by a rescue of the real economy: jobs, fair wages, and a safety net that does not fray at the first tug. If we fail, the mountain fortress will be replaced by a prison of hunger and despair. And that is a sentence no one deserves.
