After 364 days, Nigeria is still waiting for the Chibok schoolgirls and 2,000 others to come home
A new Amnesty International report says the thousands missing may have been not only forced into slavery, but trained to fight.
A year ago, 276 girls were abducted from Chibok, Nigeria. The abduction by Boko Haram prompted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign that garnered international attention.
In Nigeria, they are still waiting for many of the girls to come home. They are also waiting for thousands of others. At least 5,500 are never coming home, the report says. They were killed as Boko Haram made it’s way through northeast Nigeria in the past two years.
“Men and women, boys and girls, Christians and Muslims, have been killed, abducted and brutalized by Boko Haram during a reign of terror which has affected millions,” Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said. “Recent military successes might spell the beginning of the end for Boko Haram, but there is a huge amount to be done to protect civilians, resolve the humanitarian crisis and begin the healing process.”
There is not only the missing, but the displaced. A UNICEF report, also released today, says at least 800,000 children have had to flee their homes as a result of Boko Haram.
Buhari on promises he can fulfill
President-elect of Nigeria, Mohammadu Buhari, released a statement promising action as soon as he takes office in May. Buhari won the office after strongly admonishing current President Goodluck Jonathan’s effectiveness against Boko Haram.
“We do not know if the Chibok girls can be rescued. Their whereabouts remain unknown. As much as I wish to, I cannot promise that we can find them. But I say to every parent, family member and friend of the children that my Government will do everything in its power to bring them home.”
Nigeria has worked with Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin to fight Boko Haram, ramping up efforts before the elections in early March. The Nigerian Armed Forces frequently tweets about how successful they have been against Boko Haram.
“The change of government in Nigeria provides an opportunity for a new approach to security in Nigeria after the dismal failure of recent years,” said Salil Shetty.
The expectations for Buhari and his new government are high.
Life as a woman, under Boko Haram
The stories of what happened to a town taken by Boko Haram follow formula. The men are killed or imprisoned. The younger men are indoctrinated into Boko Haram.
The women would be taken “directly to camps in remote communities or to makeshift transits camps such as one established in Ngoshe prison. From transit camps, Boko Haram would move them to houses in towns and villages and indoctrinate them with their version of Islam in preparation for marriage.” Aisha, 19, spoke to Amnesty International about her abduction in Sept. 2014. She was at a friend’s wedding and about 100 girls were taken, including the bride, the bride’s sister and Aisha’s sister. The bride and bride’s sister were forced to marry fighters. They were all taught to fight.
“They used to train girls how to shoot guns. I was among the girls trained to shoot. I was also trained how to use bombs and how to attack a village. This training went on for three weeks after we arrived. Then they started sending some of us to operations. I went on one operation to my own village.”
She was raped repeatedly and saw the death of many, including her sister.
“I was raped several times when I was in the camp. Sometimes 5 of them. Sometimes 3, sometimes 6. It went on for all the time I was there. It always happened in the night… Some were even my classmates or from my village. Those who knew me were even more brutal to me.”
“Some of them refused to convert. Some refused to learn how to kill others. They were buried in a mass grave in the bush. They’ll just pack the dead bodies and dump them in a big hole, but not deep enough. I didn’t see the hole, but we used to get the smell from the dead bodies when they start getting rotten.”
Lost children
The youngest children taken by Boko Haram are often used for small tasks, reports UNICEF — they play roles as cooks, porters and look-outs. Through this and other methods, they are recruited to join Boko Haram.
Children are also being displaced:
As people flee their homes, a large and growing number of children have been separated from their parents. An assessment conducted in 33 locations in Borno and Yobe States in Nigeria found nearly 2,400 separated and unaccompanied children among a population of nearly 150,000 displaced persons.
Rose Zeeharrah next to her daughter and son in a camp for internally displaced persons in Yola. Zeeharrah fled with her nine children, but her husband and many other men were killed. “We didn’t bring anything with us. We just ran,” she said. Her 2-year-old son passed away from “stress” while they hid. She’s lost everything, but Zeeharrah longs to go home: “I want to go home and harvest so we can eat.”
The story of one town: “Nothing will happen to Bama”
Bama, in Borno state, has been destroyed by Boko Haram. Satellite imagery commissioned by Amnesty International shows the scale.
In the photos below you can see satellite imagery take on March 3 on the left. On the right, an image from March 17 shows structures damaged by Boko Haram. According to Amnesty International, at least 5,900 structures, approximately 70 percent of the town, were either damaged or destroyed, including the hospital.
This destruction took place as Boko Haram retreated and Nigerian forces advanced. According to Nigerian forces, this was “accomplished with massive casualty inflicted on the terrorists.”
A witnesses described the freeing of Bama differently:
“When the military got close to the barracks [in Bama] and almost took over, they [the military] later withdrew,” she said. “Then the insurgents started killing people and burning houses.”
Prior to the taking of Bama, a local official received a letter from Boko Haram announcing the attack. That letter was given to the military. When scared residents like Bashir Lawan (not his real name) tried to leave, they were stopped by the military and told to go home.
They said ‘We are here to guard you. If you leave we will have no one to guard. See our numbers. Nothing will happen to Bama.’ Two days later Boko Haram attacked. At the end of the day we are betrayed.”
More images of Bama:
Nigeria remembers
In Abuja, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign organized a silent march to commemorate the anniversary.
The BBC reports that a woman has said she’s seen some of the missing girls in Gwoza, dressed in Islamic attire and living in a “big house.”
Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize winner, wrote an open letter to the missing girls (Listen to Malala read the letter). She also launched a campaign to write letters to the girls and their families, called #DearSisters.
“Remember that one day your tragic ordeal will end, you will be reunited with your families and friends, and you will have the chance to finish the education you courageously sought. I look forward to the day I can hug each one of you, pray with you, and celebrate your freedom with your families. Until then, stay strong, and never lose hope. You are my heroes.”
