The story of three Nigerian girls who escaped Boko Haram
For
six months the world has waited for news of the fate of more than 200
girls abducted by Nigerian militant group Boko Haram. As the Nigerian
government insists a deal to release the "Chibok girls" is being
negotiated, three girls who escaped their captors have told their story
to BBC Hausa.
Lami, Maria and Hajara were at school in Chibok,
north-eastern Nigeria, when they were kidnapped in April. Best friends
Lami and Maria escaped by jumping from the back of a truck. Hajara was
taken to a camp but later fled with another girl.
To protect the girls' identity we have portrayed their story
as an animation, and provided an edited transcript of their account
below.
The girls' names have been changed for their protection.
Animation by Luis Ruibal.
Lami: It was Monday night. We had exams the
following day. Then we started to hear shootings in the town. So we went
out. We phoned our parents to tell them what was happening in the town.
They told us to run away when we got the chance. We told them that the
town was already surrounded so there was no way we could run.
Maria: Lami woke me up saying: "Maria didn't you hear what's happening? Haven't you heard sounds of shooting from the town?"
I said we should climb the wall and run away. She said: "No.
No-one has run away. We should gather in one place and wait to see
what's going to happen."
Other girls said nothing would happen to us. "We're girls.
They don't do anything to girls. We should wait and see what God would
do."
Lami: We were at the school when suddenly three Boko Haram members entered.
They said: "If any of you attempt to leave we'll kill all of
you." When we went out they were everywhere. They gathered us where we
have our school assembly. As we were there they kept burning the school.
They burnt everything.
Hajara: They asked us to get out of the gate,
saying that when we were out they would let us go back to our homes.
They said whoever did not have a headscarf or shoes should go and get
them. They then asked us to climb on to a lorry, on top of the food
loaded in it. The lorry was so high that we couldn't easily climb on.
Maria: They said to us: "You're only coming
to school for prostitution. Boko (Western education) is haram
(forbidden) so what are you doing in school?"
We kept quiet. I think there could have been about 100 Boko
Haram members - they were all over the school. They outnumbered us. They
took us away in their vehicles. We were sitting on oil drums in the
vehicle. Our vehicle was really overloaded. We were saying to one
another that we should throw away our shoes and scarves so that if our
parents came they would know the road we had taken.
Hajara: The vehicle became full before I could
get on. There were about 100 of us walking. We stopped at one town and
people brought us water. I saw one of those who brought us water changed
his clothes and joined the Boko Haram men. They then put us in other
vehicles.
They put the rest in the boots of cars. Some of the Boko
Haram members were so small that if I were to grab their necks I could
break them. Some couldn't even carry their guns properly.
Maria: We were wondering where we were being
taken to. When we entered the vehicle, Lami said to me: "Shouldn't we
jump out of the vehicle here so that we may possibly escape? There are
no other vehicles close by."
Hajara: I thought, it's preferable to have
these people shoot me as I run than have them humiliate me. They kept
saying to us: "Make sure you put on your scarves. Make sure you put on
your scarves. We'll shoot any girl we see without a scarf. And any girl
who jumps out will die."
I was about to jump out when one girl held me back and said they'd shoot me if I did.
"What's the difference," I said. "Is it not to the same death
we're going? They should shoot me here and let my corpse be collected."
I was crying and praying until we reached the camp.
Lami: There was a lot of dust on the road,
they couldn't see us. When we jumped out, we started to run. We were
running without shoes. We found other people. We started to run away
from them thinking they were Boko Haram. But they too had run from the
town.
Hajara: Boko Haram gathered us in a forest
around noon. Some of the girls were tired and were lying down. But I
couldn't lie down. The spirit of God was asking me to go. It was telling
me: "Get up and go. Get up and go."
So I went. Another girl followed me. When we were going I saw
some of them [Boko Haram members] performing ablutions. We stooped as
if we were trying to pull out thorns from our shoes, as if we were just
going to wee. We'd walk a little then bend down for a little while as if
we were looking for something we'd lost.
After walking for a while they couldn't see us properly since
it was forest. We then started to run. After we had run for a short
distance, we heard them saying "catch those girls." We kept running.
Whether they came after us not, we didn't know.
Hajara: We kept going and our shoes were
ripped. We found a house, where a girl could speak Hausa. Her parents
gave us a place to sleep. We reached the Chibok area in the morning. A
man looking for a relative among the missing girls drove us on motorbike
into town.
When I saw my elder and younger brothers, I fell to the
ground crying. My mother and father were crying and all members of my
family cried. Before I reached home it was as if there was a death in
the house. Mats were spread. People were consoling my father and mother
thinking that I had died.
Who are Boko Haram?
- Founded in 2002
- Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
- Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state
- Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
- Some three million people affected
- Declared terrorist group by US in 2013
Who are Boko Haram?
Profile: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
Will 'truce' with Boko Haram free Chibok girls?
Lami: The people we met said: "Your town is
far away. You can't go there now. Come here and wait until morning when
we'll take you into the town to get transport back home." We stayed
there till morning when they asked us to get up so that we go to the
town. We couldn't walk. Our feet were full of thorns.
They said: "Let's go find a vehicle to take you home."
Maria: The men who helped us took us to
Chibok, and I cried. It was the second time that something like that had
happened to me. My dad was a pastor; Boko Haram went to our house and
killed him. They also shot my mum in the stomach; they gave her 2,000
Naira ($12) to have the bullet.
Lami: My parents warmed up water and cared for my feet. I was taken to the hospital and it was two weeks before I could stand up.
Maria: I continued to live with the thought that Boko Haram members were coming to get me. I couldn't sleep.
Hajara: I was having nightmares every day.
There was even a day when I dreamed that they gathered all of us who
fled in one place, and said to us: "You girls have defied us and fled.
We're now going to burn you alive."
I haven't forgotten about the other girls who are still in the hands of those people. I keep praying for them.
Lami: God will never make us meet these
people again. And for our sisters who are still in the forest, may God
help them. And may the whole world cry out for these girls to get out so
that we continue with our education in school again.
Maria: They should pray to God to forgive
them their sins. I'd also ask them to bring back the girls they have
kidnapped because their parents are in distress. Some of the parents of
the girls have already died. It was the thought of their girls that
killed them.
Hajara: God will do what he wills, but I
don't want to look at them because of what they have done to my life.
They think they've ruined me, but God willing, they haven't ruined me.
I'll continue with my education.