…Say 20 abducted Chibok Girls still in Sambisa Forest
Two rescued abducted girls of the GGSS Chibok, Borno in 2014, Mary Dauda and Hauwa Joseph have disclosed that more than 20 other abducted victims are still in Gazuwa camp in Sambisa Forest, eight years after being kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents.
Gazuwa camp remains the acclaimed headquarters of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, Boko Haram faction located at 9 kilometers to Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.
They disclosed this while interacting with newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri at the Command and Control Centre, Maimalari Cantonment.
Mary Dauda particularly recounted her experience in the hands of the insurgents, saying that she could still recall her forced marriage after she was abducted at the age of 18 years eight years ago.
She disclosed that she had to walk through the deadly forest for many days before she get assistance , adding that like the others abducted by the militants, she was warned that she would be hunted down and killed if she tries to escape from the forest.
In the words of Mary Dauda; “I took excuse from Malam Ahmed that I will be visiting my relative from Chibok in the town of Ngoshe and he gave me one week. That is when I began my journey to freedom.
“I left Sabil Huda, popularly known as the camp of Abubakar Shekau and proceeded towards Njimiya and Parisu, where I met some of the Mujahedeens. They asked where I was going to and I told them I was given permission to visit my sister in Ngoshe.
“I finally arrived Gava village in Gwoza, after walking for many hours through the deadly forest under very difficult conditions. I asked some people to direct me to the home of daughter of Chibok.
“After meeting her, I told her of my plans to return home but, she said that while she would love to come with me but her husband has placed her on strict surveillance for attempting to run. I then left her and proceeded toward Ngoshe town.
“On my way, I met an old man who promised to assist me to escape but, he told me that it won’t be possible in the afternoon until the sun sets. At about 8:00pm, he took me to Ngoshe town and told me to pass the night in the outskirt of the town and proceed the next morning.
“When it was day break, I took myself to some soldiers where I was rescued with my baby,” she explained.
Giving her own account of her ordeal, Hauwa Joseph said she was forcefully married to Amir Abbah, the Commander of Boko Haram (Munzul), at Gazuwa camp who was later killed during an encounter with the troops of the Nigerian Army.
Hauwa Joseph said that she had to devise means of escaping from the camp of the terrorists following massive incursion of their camp by troops of the Nigerian Army in Gazuwa on June 12, during which people ran in the same direction that the terrorists were hiding women and children, adding that it was at that point that she took a separate route and escaped from the terrorists’ camp.
Hauwa looking pitiable, said that on her way, she met with some of the insurgents who confronted her on her mission but, she had to trick them that she was following some women to hide in the nearby forest.
According to her; “I slept under the tree with my child before I proceeded the next day until I arrived the road where I approached a military check point. At the check point, the military initially thought I was a suicide bomber, but when I explained myself to them, they took me along with them.
Hauwa particularly thanked the military for rescuing her, praying that other Chibok girls still in the terrorists’ captivity would be rescued in the shortest possible time.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, The Theartre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai North East Joint Operation, said that both girls were among the list of the missing Chibok girls.
Musa said that the girls were rescued due to a massive military operation in Sambisa Forest, Mandara Mountain, and the Lake Chad area.
“We are putting more efforts to ensure that the rest of the girls are rescued through the ongiong Operation Lake and Desert Sanity,” he said.
Speaking on the rescue of the two Chibok girls, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Waidi Shuaibu, said the girls were rescued between June 12 and 14, 2022 around Bama and Gwoza general area, adding that the girls have received necessary medical attention and would soon be handed over to the appropriate authorities.
Boko Haram in April 2014, kidnapped 276 female students, of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.
