Alphonsus Afina, a church minister in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno State, has been rescued by a security forces operation.
He had been kidnapped two months earlier by militants from Boko Haram. He was freed along with ten women who were also being held hostage.
Borno State, where Alphonsus was ministering, is a stronghold of both Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In May 2025 two Christian education officials were killed by an improvised explosive device believed to have been planted by ISWAP.
