News is just emerging about the alleged abduction of at least 150 displaced women from a remote area of Borno State in Nigeria’s northeast.

Dozens of women have gone missing and are feared to have been abducted by insurgents in Borno State in Nigeria’s northeast.

The women, said to be residents of a displaced persons’ camp in Ngala, the headquarters of Gamboru Ngala, were collecting firewood when they were abducted.

It is believed members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), better known as Boko Haram, abducted the women five days ago.
Ngala is close to the Cameroon border.

Details are only emerging now because Gamboru Ngala is a remote area that does not have reliable telecommunications.
Rawa Bukar Tela, the RNI correspondent in Dikwa, said a source, who asked to remain anonymous, told him the women were collecting firewood for cooking and selling when they were allegedly abducted by insurgents.

“The exact number of women is not known but reports vary between 150 and 180; one report put the figure at 300. Most reports said JAS insurgents carried out the abduction; others said the insurgents belonging to the Islamic State West Africa Province [ISWAP] were responsible.”

The source said some of the women had escaped and returned to Ngala on Tuesday but the escapees were terrified and were in no state to talk about their abduction. Only some of the women managed to escape, the others are still being held.

“The women were abducted on the outskirts of Arinna Forest in Ngala while they were collecting firewood which they use for cooking or sell to make money. No one has heard from them since they were taken away.

“The women who escaped are very frightened and do not want to speak about their shattering experience. They are sick with fear. Perhaps in a few days they will be able to give more information,” the source said.

“Authorities in Gamboru Ngala have called on the Borno State government and security agencies to take all necessary steps to rescue the women.”
Neither the federal nor the state government has released an official statement.

A police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the abduction. He said the women were abducted on Friday, March 1. He was unable to give a precise figure of the number abducted.
Abduction and kidnappings are common in Nigeria’s northeast where women and children have proved easy targets.

The largest mass abduction by JAS fighters took place in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014 when 276 schoolgirls were seized from their dormitory at the Government Girls School. The mostly Christian girls were aged between 16 and 18 and they were preparing to write their final exams.

Their abduction made world news; 57 of the girls managed to escape by jumping off the trucks on which they were being transported and others have been rescued by the Nigerian Armed Forces. More than 100 are still missing.

RUKAIYA AHMED ALIBE