The story of Ishaya Kukah is one that cuts deep, as he stood among the 60 rescued victims being reunited with their families in Abuja, he wasn’t just another face in the crowd.
He was the brother of Rev. Fr. Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese. And he had just come back from a place many never return from.
Kidnapped by bandits and held hostage in the forests of Kaduna, Ishaya didn’t think he would ever see daylight again.
“Frankly speaking, I had already given up. I didn’t think I’d come out alive because of how they were treating us in the bush,” he told reporters on the ,8th of April, 2025, during the official handover event attended by the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, and Defence Minister, Badaru Abubakar.
He was one of the lucky ones rescued by troops of the 1 Division Nigerian Army.
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“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, recounting the grim routine that became his reality.
Ishaya was shackled for over a month.
“I was chained for 32 days. They [bandits] don’t know what they are doing,” he said. Still, his words carried a surprising sense of grace.
“Some of them [bandits] want to learn trades. They can still be useful.”
Despite the trauma, he found room for empathy.
“If not for the Federal Government of Nigeria, we’d still be in the bush. Thank you for what you’ve done. God bless you.”
His survival isn’t just a story of rescue. It’s a reminder of what many endure in silence and of what’s still at stake.