The last group of young women and girls abducted in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state on November 22 were released late Saturday. Borno has long been the center of the jihadist conflict that began 16 years ago, and the latest kidnappings add to a wave of abductions reported across the country in recent weeks.

“All 12 were released,” Abubakar Mazhinyi, president of the Askira Uba council, told AFP.

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The Nigerian Army said the girls have been moved to a secure military facility where they are receiving medical care, psychological support, and debriefing before they are reunited with their families.

The attack happened last Saturday, when 13 women and girls aged 16 to 23 were seized near farms in an area used as a hideout by insurgents. One of the victims was freed after telling the kidnappers she was nursing a baby. The Army said Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province were responsible.

The kidnappings echo the 2014 abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Chibok, which drew global outrage and highlighted the scale of insecurity in the region.

President Bola Tinubu declared a security emergency on Wednesday, ordering mass recruitment into the police and armed forces. He also approved the deployment of trained forest guards and the hiring of additional staff for operations aimed at flushing out armed groups hiding in remote areas.

“There will be no more hiding places for agents of evil,” Tinubu said in a televised address.

His directive follows a separate abduction in the Niger Delta region last week, where more than 300 children were taken from a Catholic school. While some escaped, more than 265 children and teachers remain missing. That attack was carried out by local criminal gangs, not jihadists.

The surge in violence dominated discussions at the 11th North-East Governors Forum, which brought together leaders from Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba, and Bauchi. More than 100 people were killed last month in renewed attacks.

Taraba governor Agbu Kefas said the forum was calling on the armed forces, security agencies, and community leaders to reassess their counter-insurgency strategy.

The 16-year conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced two million people, and weakened the region’s economy. Although Boko Haram and ISWAP have lost ground in recent years, officials warn that the groups have shifted tactics, including the use of drones and explosive devices. Reports also indicate that the former rivals have eased tensions between them, allowing more coordinated attacks on security forces.

The governors noted setbacks on the military side as well, including Niger’s withdrawal from the Multinational Joint Task Force, which had supported joint patrols and intelligence sharing.

In a joint communique, the governors urged a multidimensional security approach that combines military force with long term solutions such as youth employment, vocational training, better roads, stronger education systems, and poverty reduction. They reaffirmed plans to open the region to new investment and stressed the need for food security, climate resilience, skills development, and industrial growth to prevent young people from being recruited by insurgent groups.