Two women
abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East have given a rare
account of life as captives.
While one
who was held captive for 15 days, said she had a marriage proposal from
one of the Islamist militants, the other said she was almost turned into a
killer.
“They asked me
if I am Christian or Muslim. I said I am a Christian,” said 23-year-old Liatu,
as she recounted her ordeal in the hands of Boko Haram members to
the British Broadcasting Corporation.
“On the 11th day
(in captivity), they brought a man to me and said that he liked me and
that I should convert to Islam so that he can marry me,” she added in the
report published by the BBC on
Monday.
Liatu claimed
that in Sambisa Forest, Borno State, where she was taken to after being seized
at a roadblock last year, she witnessed the killing of 50 persons by the
insurgents.
According to
her, the insurgents, who had earlier killed Muslims employed by the government,
preferred to use knives to slit peoples’ throats than shooting them.
She said, “They
were slitting people’s throats with knives. Both women and men were killed,
especially the men who didn’t agree to fight for them.
“Those that
tried to escape were shot but they hardly ever used their guns to kill. They
usually used knives. About 50 people were killed right in front of me.”
Liatu also
told the BBC that
the terrorists were usually tipped off about any imminent attack by
the army.
This, she
claimed, allowed the militants to hide in caves and forests close to the
Cameroonian border.
Liatu,
who refused to eat anything during her days in
captivity, added that after being told about the proposed marriage, she
made an extremely risky escape.
She said, “One
of the captives stood up and said, ‘You only die once. Who is ready to make a
run for it?’ Six of us jumped into one of the Boko Haram vehicles in the camp –
a Volkswagen Golf.
“They chased us
on motorbikes, shooting at the car until we got close to Bama town. Then they
left and we got out of the car to continue on foot as there was a curfew in
place. It was only then that I realised the three people on the backseat had
all been shot dead.”
Like, Liatu,
19-year-old Janet, said she witnessed the slaughtering of people by the
militants.
“They went to
Gwoza and brought five people to the camp. They started slaughtering them in
front of me,” said Janet, who was in the insurgents’ den for three
months.
At a point, she
added, the insurgents ordered her to slit the throat of one of the
captured people but she declined.
“Then they
ordered me to slit one of their throats. I refused. I told them I couldn’t do
it. Then the wife of the leader of the group killed him instead.” Janet said.
She said she
recognised the faces of the men who held her captive as most of them came from
her area.
Janet said, “I
knew almost all the people in the group I was with. I knew them from my home
area.
“I was really
angry and when I couldn’t keep quiet any longer, I said to one of them, ‘When
we were at home you would even visit me and I respected you. So why are you
doing this to me?”
A teacher who
survived last month’s attack on a boarding school in Yobe State also narrated
to the BBC how the insurgents
killed some pupils in the institution.
“I peeped
through the window and saw the gunshots coming in… and there was a lot of
shouting,” he said, declining to give his name.
The teacher
added, “I came back silently and said, ‘Let us lock our doors and pray. If they
come in, that is maybe the end of our lives.’ We kept on praying and praying
and praying.
“In one house,
they even met two children that had been left behind by their parents who had
fled to the bush. After coming in, the insurgents saw the children sleeping on
their mattress.
“They woke them
up asked them to go outside. They put the mattress outside and asked them to
sleep. Then they set the house ablaze.
“We cried. Some
of them were slaughtered like goats. Others were shot.
“Most of them
had high hopes that they would be future leaders. Some of them in class were
telling us they would be lawyers and doctors. They were full of ambition.”
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