Published April 15, 2024
By Chinwendu Eugene
Ten years after the abduction of 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, a report at the weekend revealed among others that 21 of the released girls came back with 34 children.
This, according to the report released by the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) to commemorate the 10th year anniversary of the abduction, served as a devastating confirmation of the sexual violence and coerced marriages the girls were subjected to in captivity.
The children aged between five months and seven years now live with their mothers who struggle to move on from the trauma they went through. Some of the mothers, however, returned to their (former) Boko Haram husbands to nurture the children they had together while in captivity.
Some of the Chibok girls, now mothers, who went back to their terrorist husbands claimed to have found love in their captivity. One of them, Jinkai, spent eight years in captivity before returning home with three children. She was rescued alongside two others on 7 September 2022. Jinkai said she found love with her (former) Boko Haram husband whom she now lives with in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency.
However, the relationship between Jinkai and her parents has now strained, according to reports gathered by Kukuruku correspondents. They are angry she decided to go back to a (former) terrorist.
She was not alone in this tangle. Other Chibok escapees like Aisha Grema and Mary Dauda who escaped captivity in 2022 explained why they are still in love with their ex-Boko Haram fighters.
“We have been married for eight years,” Grema, who escaped with her child, had said. “I first came out of the forest and then he followed me. There in the bush, we had no relatives, no brother, and no sister that is why we decided to come out.” She explained that her husband was deradicalised before they were allowed to stay together. The deradicalisation programme by the Borno State Government provides a window for the terrorists to be reintegrated back into society. More than 160,000 ex-terrorists have taken advantage of the amnesty.
Also, the report by the MMF hinted that 48 parents of the abducted victims had died since the girls were kidnapped, with widespread psychological trauma for survivors and their families, leading to health issues and barriers to work and education.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MMF, Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, in the virtual presentation of the report, stated that the foundation had set out 10 key recommendations that urged the Nigerian government and the international community to collaborate on the delivery on and beyond the following priority areas which included enhanced security measures; community empowerment programmes; psychological support services in danger zones; education initiatives; legal reforms; transparent communication; humanitarian aid and development assistance; women’s empowerment programmes and early warning systems for security threats.
She said, “In the 10 years since the Chibok kidnapping caused global outrage, very little has changed on the ground in Nigeria where kidnapping is still as prevalent, if not worse than a decade ago.
“As Nigeria’s kidnapping epidemic shows no signs of slowing, we urge the Nigerian authorities and the international community to take concrete steps to address the underlying drivers of conflict, extremism and violence against women and girls, which include widespread poverty, instability and a lack of economic opportunities.
“The report found that 91 out of the 276 schoolgirls remain unaccounted for.
“The report also revealed that 21 of the Chibok girls who were released returned with 34 children, serving as a devastating confirmation of the sexual violence and coerced marriages they endured while in captivity.
“The MMF report shares recommendations in efforts to address the root causes of kidnapping and urges for international cooperation to urgently act to deliver solutions that put an end to the crisis.”
She also advocated a zero-tolerance policy to ensure that those who were responsible for the atrocities documented were brought to justice no matter how powerful or well-connected they were.
