While the world was transfixed on the Nigerian presidential election that unseated incumbent leader Goodluck Jonathan, the terrorist organisation Boko Haram reportedly kidnapped hundreds of people from the town of Damasak last week.
The government denied that the kidnappings occurred, but witnesses reported watching their family members, mostly women and children, being taken away.
"They are slaves, so we're taking them with us because they belong to us," the militants allegedly told Souleymane Ali as they took his wife and three daughters. "Two of them were supposed to get married this year," he lamented.
Another man, Mohamed Ousmane, said his two wives and three of his children were stolen, according to Reuters.
A woman, identified only as Fana, reported that she narrowly avoided having her children taken by hiding them as Boko Haram gathered hostages. She reported that the militants held the kidnapped inside a mosque before taking off with them.
Damasak fell to Boko Haram in November, but was reclaimed by Nigerien and Chadian soldiers several weeks ago.
In mid-March, at least 70 bodies were found near a bridge outside of the town, some of which had been beheaded, and were skeletal and partially mummified.
The discovery of the bodies came just after then-president Jonathan boasted that the terrorists "are getting weaker and weaker by the day," and predicted territories would be reclaimed by the government in the coming weeks.
Jonathan was defeated by retired major general Muhammadu Buhari by two million votes, according to Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission. The win marks the first time Nigeria's ruling party has been defeated in a democratic election.
"A new day and a new Nigeria are upon us," Buhari said on Tuesday. "The victory is yours, and the glory is that of our nation."
Buhari will be sworn in on May 29.
