In the past two years, over 200 women and girls (both married and single) have been abducted in Nigeria and taken to the camps of Boko Haram, where they have probably suffered the agonies of being turned into sex tools by the sect members, who forcefully defile them or forced them into unholy marriages, while being held in captivity.
A reporter from Maiduguri, Borno, has spoken to women being freed from their Boko Haram abductors.
A 43-year-old Salma Abubakar (name changed for security reasons) went in a bank in January this year, when she encountered a 26-year-old man, who was standing in a queue waiting to be attended by the cashier.
What happened next was shocking for everyone as Salima attacked him shouting “He is the one, he is the one! God will punish you, you will rot in hell!”
Everyone one at the banking hall was left confused, but their confusion turned into shock when Salma, said that she recognized a Boko Haram member that kidnapped her and other women to the bush. She further narrated that particular young forcefully slept with her more than ten times; he used her like a dog.
Soldiers were called to the place of the incident, and, during interrogations the young man confessed to being a Boko Haram member, confirmed his group had truly abducted many women – both old and young – whom they often gang-raped in their bush hideouts.
People applauded that woman’s courage. Moreover, her case had been able to unveil many of such cases, as relatives and neighbours of women and girls that had suffered rape during their captivity, begin to speak; though many would rather lose their tongues than to mention names of victims.
Another lady, Rosemary Edo (name changed as well), was born in the Cross River state, but moved to Maiduguri in search of work.
She had been captured as well, but fortunately was able to escape Boko Haram, somewhere near Bama. She spoke to newsmen lying on a hospital bad. Rosemary narrated that over seven men slept with her every day for over two months.
The victim also confirmed that she was held captive with more than 30 other women and young girls. All the females were forcefully used by the insurgents as sex toys. The virgins ones and the very young girls were usually given to the leaders. The older women, or the married ones, were left for ordinary fighters.
Many of the abducted women and girls would never return. The victims confirmed that Boko Haram kills women for non-compliance to the sexual demands, punishes them regularly. Female hostages at terrorists’ camps die from torture as well.
The concern is that even if the Federal Government succeeds in bringing the Boko Haram insurgents to the negotiation table, the question to ask is “what kind of a dialogue would they have with these women, mothers and young girls that would heal their humanity that is deeply injured?”