Two Women Narrates How They Escaped From Boko Haram Camp
Category: Boko Haram News
BBC Will Ross interviewed two women who narrowly escaped from the Boko Haram camp in Sambisa forest at Cameron border.
According to the BBC Report: The women who saw death in the face witnessed the killing of more than 50 innocent people by the bloody Boko Haram sect.
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| Former captive with Will Ross |
"They asked me if I am Christian or Muslim. I said I am Christian,"
said 23-year-old Liatu, as she recalled her ordeal in the hands of Boko
Haram.
"On the 11th day [in captivity], they brought a man to me and
said that he liked me and I should convert to Islam so that he can
marry me."
She was stopped at a roadblock set up last year by the
Islamist militant group. She said any Muslims employed by the government
were killed on the spot, as Boko Haram had earlier warned them to leave
their work.
She was taken to the insurgents' base in Borno state's Sambisa forest, where the bloodshed continued.
"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," she said.
"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 says the insurgents were usually tipped
off about any imminent attack by the Nigerian army. This allowed them to
hide in caves and forests close to the Cameroonian border. The Nigerian
army says it is currently hunting down the Boko Haram fighters in this
extremely challenging terrain.
Liatu spent 15 days in captivity and refused to eat anything.
Then, after being told about the proposed marriage, she made an
extremely risky escape.
"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."
Second Woman Narrates How They 'Slit their throats'
Nineteen-year-old Janet was held for three months. She says that Boko Haram tried to turn her into a killer.
"They went to Gwoza and brought five people to the camp. They
started slaughtering them in front of me. 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."
She says she recognised the faces of the men who held her captive.
"I knew almost all the people in the group I was with. I knew them from my home area," Janet says.
"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?'"
Janet says her life was spared as a result of this outburst.
One of the great fears people have today stems from not knowing exactly
where Boko Haram has a presence in the country and whom you can trust.
A businessman from Borno state told me he had helped the Nigerian police arrest 11 Boko Haram members in the capital, Abuja.
Some working on market stalls, he believes, are sent to be the eyes and
ears of the group. It is a worrying indication of Boko Haram's desire to
maintain a presence way beyond the north-east of the country.
I met a teacher who survived last month's attack on a boarding school in Yobe state, in which 29 boys were killed.
He was so scared he wanted his identity hidden, even though
he now lives far from Yobe. He did not even want me to reveal where he
now lived. He described the moment the gunfire erupted.
"I peeped through the window and saw the gunshots coming in... and there was a lot of shouting," he says.
"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."
He hid for over three hours as the gunfire and explosions rang out.
The insurgents were going from house to house, killing, looting and
burning. At times their actions suggested they had specific targets.
"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," he says.
"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."
He told me that at the time, he had no idea that the student area of the
school was under attack. Then, in the morning, the teachers saw the
horrific scene at the boys' dormitory.
"We cried. Some of them were slaughtered like goats. Others were shot," he says.
"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."
The names of the women escapees in this piece have been changed for their safety.
Just this morning, a war-letter allegedly written by the Boko Haram sect went viral, read it here:
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