Nigerian Pastor Pleads for Help Freeing Wife and Toddler Held Nearly a Year in Borno
Mercy Simon and her daughter Talita were taken Nov. 9, 2025, on a road in Borno state; captors have cut the ransom demand to 12 million naira, which the family cannot pay, Morning Star News reports.
See where this is ›ABUJA, Nigeria —
A Nigerian pastor is pleading with Nigeria's president and others in authority to help free his wife and toddler daughter, who he says have been held by suspected Boko Haram militants since Nov. 9, 2025, Morning Star News reported Oct. 28. Mercy Simon and her daughter, Talita, were seized on the Buratai-Biu-Bunu Yadi road in Borno state while traveling to Maiduguri for her brother's wedding.
“She was the only person picked out from a vehicle they were traveling in because she is a Christian,” said the pastor, who gave his name only as Pastor Simon. He is from Chinene village in Gwoza County and has served churches in the Chibok and Bama areas of Borno state; he now lives in Mubi, Adamawa state. “I am left to care for three children in her absence,” he said.
See where this is ›He told Morning Star News he learned of the abduction in September, when the captors contacted him on WhatsApp. The ransom demand has fallen from 50 million naira (about $37,200) to 15 million naira and then to 12 million naira (about $8,927). Barka Iliyasu, an area council official, said that is “a sum the poor family still cannot afford.”
About 70 other Christians are being held along with them, and five captives were released Oct. 19 after their families paid ransoms, according to the report. “The silence of the government on these issues is deafening and painful,” Iliyasu said. Pastor Simon said families contacted Sen. Ali Ndume, “but we have not heard from the authorities.”
Area resident Chawai Friday said the daughter is reported to be in poor health. Pastor Simon said photos from the captors show his wife still wearing the same dress she wore about a year ago.
Open Doors' 2026 World Watch List ranks Nigeria No. 7 among 50 countries and says 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed for their faith worldwide between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025, were in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities did not comment on the case in the report. Watchman News has not independently confirmed the details.
What we don't know yet: This account comes from Morning Star News, a news service that covers persecuted Christians. Nigerian officials have not commented publicly, and Watchman News could not find independent confirmation. Who is holding the mother and child, and whether any ransom has been demanded, is unknown.
