Francis Collomp was celebrating his 63rd birthday on December 19th 2012 when 30 militants besieged his home. The insurgents kidnapped Collomp, and killed his neighbor and a security guard in the abduction.
Yahoo News reports that Collomp's captors partake in daily prayer, ritualistically for fifteen minutes. On November 16th the captors did not lock the cell on Collomp's door, and as such, Collomp once again seized his fate. The French engineer escaped to the nearest police station in Zaria, flagging down a taxi motorcycle.
Once Collomp reached the police station officials ushered him to Kaduna, the region's capital, where he meet with the French foreign minister. A Yahoo News source states that Boko Haram has credited themselves with the abduction; in response, the United States has deemed Boko Haram as foreign terrorists.