In September, a message landed on the WhatsApp of Pastor Simon, who has taken refuge in Mubi, Adamawa state, in northeastern Nigeria. On the other end were the men who had taken his wife and little daughter ten months earlier. They wanted 50 million naira, about $37,200, to let them go.
Mercy Simon and her daughter Talita were kidnapped on Nov. 9, 2025, by suspected Boko Haram militants and remain in captivity. Now her husband, who identifies himself only as Pastor Simon, is publicly pleading with President Bola Tinubu to rescue them. He told his story to Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, and Guiame in Brazil carried the appeal.
A trip to her brother's wedding
Mercy and her toddler were traveling to Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on the Buratai-Biu-Bunu Yadi road for her brother's wedding. Armed men stopped the vehicle.
Mercy Simon e a filha foram sequestradas pelo Boko Haram. (Foto: Facebook/D English Alhaji). Photo: Guiame
“She was the only person picked out from a vehicle they were traveling in because she is a Christian,” Simon said. He heard nothing more until her captors contacted him in September 2026.
Barka Iliyasu, a local council official, confirmed the kidnapping to the same outlet. He said mother and daughter were taken on Nov. 9, 2025, and are still being held.
Simon is from Chinene village in Gwoza. He had served in churches in the Chibok and Bama areas, but Boko Haram attacks forced him out of ministry, and he took refuge in Mubi. He says he is traumatized and is raising their three other children alone.
A ransom that falls and a family that cannot reach it
When he told the kidnappers he did not have that much money, he says, the demand dropped to 15 million naira ($11,160). After days of silence came another figure. The captors cut the ransom from 50 million to 12 million naira, about $8,900.
The figure is smaller, but it is still far out of reach for this family. Iliyasu called it a sum the poor family still cannot afford.
Simon believes the two are alive. “From the pictures you can see that the only dress she wore about a year ago is what she's still wearing,” he said. A resident, Chawai Friday, told neighbors that the husband confirmed Mercy and her daughter are alive and that the girl is reportedly not in good health. She asked for prayers that God would protect them and open a way for their safe release.
Seventy Christians and a plea with no answer
Mercy and Talita are not alone. The pastor says the militants are holding 70 other Christians; five were freed on Oct. 19 after their families paid ransoms.
Simon and other families contacted Sen. Ali Ndume of the National Assembly. “But we have not heard from the authorities,” he said. That is why he is turning to the president.
Iliyasu said much the same and noted that the Constitution makes security the government's responsibility. “The silence of the government on these issues is deafening and painful,” he said. “We cannot abandon them to their fate.”
On Mercy and Talita's case, the pastor says he has had no reply. The federal government has spoken about other Borno kidnappings. Tinubu assured Gov. Babagana Zulum that Abuja would intensify efforts to rescue children abducted in Askira-Uba and elsewhere in the state. Zulum said security in Borno has improved considerably over the past six months. In June, Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the safe return of every abducted child and teacher was a top national priority.
A region that knows this script
The pastor's home district has its own place in this history. On Aug. 6, 2014, Boko Haram stormed the town of Gwoza. Weeks later, leader Abubakar Shekau declared an Islamic caliphate in the territory the group held. The army retook Gwoza in March 2015. Months earlier, the group had kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, where the pastor later served.
The violence has not stopped. Christian Daily describes the northern states as places where federal control is thin and Christians face raids, sexual violence and roadblock killings. Ransom kidnappings have risen sharply in recent years. An analysis quoted by the New York Sun says kidnapping for ransom has become a significant income source for Boko Haram and ISWAP.
Another case is recent. On July 18, 2026, a pastor's wife and their three children were abducted on the Maiduguri-Damasak highway in northeastern Nigeria. She is the wife of Pastor Moses G. Guguma of COCIN, and had just been discharged from a hospital in Maiduguri. Church members said she and the children were taken because of their faith.
Open Doors ranks Nigeria No. 7 on its 2026 World Watch List. Of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith between October 2024 and September 2025, 3,490 were Nigerians, or 72 percent.
What Hebrews asks of the church
The families' request for prayer echoes an old instruction. Hebrews 13:3 tells Christians to remember those in prison as if they were imprisoned with them. In Borno, families waiting for news are asking for exactly that today.
Simon says he will keep going. “We'll not relent in our prayers and pleas for help for our family members in captivity,” he said. His request to the president has not changed: help secure the release of Mercy and Talita.
