Sambisa Forest: I Never Believed We would Make it out Alive — Rachael, Christian Hostage

Penultimate Saturday,  275  rescued  victims of  Boko Haram were moved from Sambisa forest  to the Malkohi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp on the outskirts of Yola, Adamawa State  capital. The victims, women and children, were driven into the camp amid tight security.

They arrived the camp after almost three days journey which forced the victims to be exhausted. Many of them, especially kids, could not alight from the vehicles that brought them. They had to be assisted by officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, the Red Cross, the military and other agencies in the camp.

The children looked  malnourished. But more worrisome  is the fact that many of them  had gunshot
injuries.

Vanguard adds that the journey from Sambisa to Yola lasted over 72 hours owing to many reasons. One, the military had to do a  mop up of the  roads in the forest to clear landmines believed to have been planted  in the dreaded forest by the fleeing insurgents. A  military bulldozer had to be used to clear the roads for the vehicles conveying the victims to have access to the road linking Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

Another reason for the three-day journey as adduced by the military, was the fact that the trip had to be broken into phases to reduce the stress for the former hostages. Lami Musa, a 27-year old housewife, who gave birth to a  baby a day before the victims left Sambisa,  was among the 275 victims who survived the long drive.

On arrival in the camp, the victims were treated  to  a  taste of Nigerian foods. Their states of origin cut across the three north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe worst affected  by the Boko Haram attacks. They were captured from different remote areas of the three states during occasional Boko Haram raids.

The victims narrated how they were captured, how they were moved to Sambisa forest, their horror  in the hands of the insurgents and how they regained freedom.

Mrs. Lami Musa, a mother of four who gave birth to a baby girl barely three days before the military moved her and others from Sambisa enroute to the IDPs camp, told her story. Her husband, an artisan, was killed in their Damboa town when the insurgents came calling. She narrated:

“I was two months pregnant then when the insurgents invaded the town at about 6pm one Monday in August  2014. As sporadic gunshots enveloped the town, able bodied men, including our husbands, among others, fled to the bush. The invaders ordered us to follow them. The trip which some of us made in vehicles while others trekked took us almost two days to get to their camp”.

Another victim, Mrs. Talatu Maina, an indigene of Madagali, Adamawa State, claimed she, along with many others was abducted in September last year along the borders of Borno and Adamawa State. She said they were returning from a local market when they were ambushed and driven straight into  Sambisa forest.

“The male passengers among us were slaughtered instantly. On reaching Sambisa forest, we met hundreds of other women and children”, she stated. Talatu disclosed that life in the Boko Haram enclave was simple in the sense that the captives were directed to choose their leaders in all fields of human endeavour. “We had our leaders in Islamic affairs, food and general welfare of the camp”, she disclosed.

Mrs. Hannatu, also a returnee, said:

“We did the cooking ourselves from the corn provided by Boko Haram. The corns were normally ground, but not filtered, even as the only soup was the local ‘Mia Kuka’  or leaves of baobab tree. We  ate twice daily, except our little children who  ate at random depending on availability of food”.

Commenting on how Boko Haram people conducted themselves, Mrs. Hannatu, a mother of six, confessed that where they were camped was not close to the residence of the Boko Haram leaders. She said there  was a gap of about five to six kilometers between their camp and the Boko Haram leaders residence, adding,

“Only gunmen between the ages of 12-14 years stayed with us round the clock as our guards. 

We only saw the leaders in their motor and motorcycle convoy each time they were going or returning from operations. If they were going for operation, they will stop at a distance. The boys guarding us will run to them for update on our upkeep. Then they will zoom off, their vehicles leaving behind a thick dust. We will only see them again when they are returning from operation; this time around, foodstuff confiscated from the operation will be dropped for us,” she explained.

She disclosed that while cooking in the daytime, they used  underground kitchens to prevent the smoke from attracting the bombardment, of the Nigeria military jet fighters.

Another victim, Rachael Habila was kidnapped from Buni Yadi, Yobe State and taken into captivity by the insurgents the day the Government College there was attacked leading to the killing of over
50 students. Rachael said she did not know she will survive in the camp because of her religious background as a Christian.

“When I joined them in the camp, about five or six of us that were of the Christian faith were gathered in one place and directed that we should either embrace Islam or be killed”, the 40-year-old school teacher said.

“We had no option than to embrace Islam and there and then we were provided with Hijab and an Islamic teacher was attached to us. The basic teaching of Islam and how to perform the five daily prayers was our major pre-occupation”.

“Along the line, two of our mates were no longer seen and we continued to puzzle among ourselves that what happened to them will surely happen  to us. But, thank God, we are alive in the IDPs camp today to tell our experience”.

She added that while converting non-Muslims, one of the leaders of the sect whose responsibility it was to do that will only tell you that your name has been changed with the pronouncement of the Muslim name for you and those around him will chorus ‘ ALLAHUAKBAR’, meaning God is great.

Racheal confessed that victims were not  arbitrarily tortured, except if one violated one rule or the other.

“But if an  offense to them, which you might not know, is committed, the punishment, which involves flogging, among others, is normally severe and painstaking and, at times, it involves slaughtering of the people depending on the magnitude of the offense to them”, she stated.

Salamatu Musa, 23, was only six months old as a housewife when she was taken away from a  village in Damboa  local government area of Borno State. She said she was kidnapped during a midnight attack on their village by the insurgents during the month of Ramadan last year, adding that they were up to 22 women and over 50 children that were taken into captivity that  night.

According to her, she was two months pregnant when the incident occurred and that she had given birth to a baby girl who is almost four months now and she has not yet been named.

Asked why the baby had not yet been named, Salamatu replied that it should be done by the father of the girl, if he is still alive, pointing out that the naming ceremony will be done if eventually she is back home from the IDPs camp.

Asked whether she was aware that Nigerians went to the polls to elect their leaders recently, she replied that all of them in the Boko Haram captivity had no idea of any election and they were not aware that Nigerians had elected a new president.

Salamatu disclosed  that following the  military onslaught on the insurgents, they ran into the interior of Sambisa forest towards  Chad and

“we were left alone only for the military to discover us”.
She added: “We did not see any Boko Haram fighters  killed by the military. They ran away leaving us and many of their belongings because they were running out of many things for them to operate, including ammunition, food and other essential goods”.