... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, the hostages said in a video seen by Rooters on Monday.
The hostages identified themselves and said they each worked for different organizations. With just their heads and shoulders showing against leafy plants outdoors, they named large aid groups Action Against Hunger, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and REACH.
"I am appealing to the International Rescue Committee to come and rescue me," said one of the hostages, who gave his name as Luka Filibus.
The incident underscores the increasing risk for aid workers in northeast Nigeria, where a decade-long conflict with Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...and Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
's regional ally has fuelled one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The abduction is also a sign of how dangerous the region has become since Nigeria's military withdrew into garrison towns they call "super camps", leaving previously safe major roads, much of the countryside and smaller towns unprotected.
Nigeria's army has this year touted major victories against the holy warriors, but recent attacks and the abductions undermine the claims.
While the hostages did not name Islamic State or Boko Haram, they referred to their captors as soldiers of the "khalifa". Previously, captives have used the term to refer to Islamic State West Africa Province, rather than Boko Haram.