Mothers and wives of missing young men – many of whom have not been seen their men since March 14 2014 when the Giwa barracks, a military detention centre, was attacked by the members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS) −  met at the Allamin Foundation in Maiduguri on Sunday to honour the day their men disappeared.

Muhammad Umaru Maigana, legal adviser to the foundation − a non-profit, non-political, non-religious and non-governmental peace building organisation − said the women wanted to show respect and remember their missing men. He said some detainees had been taken by JAS, also known as Boko Haram, but they were rescued by soldiers and had been kept at the barracks for years. Among them were innocent men who were not members of JAS.

“Today we are gathered here to ask the new military service chiefs for information about the missing young men,” said Maigana, adding that not all the men had disappeared after the attack, many others had been detained for years.

Zara Bako, an internally displaced person, who lives in Jimtilo in the Konduga Local Government Area, said she wanted to tell “the whole world” that the state security service had arrested her husband and elder brother about four years ago.

She said she did not know where they were. Her brother, Hamma Bako, was arrested by soldiers in Ajalari Cross while he was visiting relatives. Her husband, Alhaji Ali, was arrested one night at their home in Jimtilo. She said the soldiers had beaten her as well.

“We don’t know where they took him. Some said he is in prison in Abuja, others said he is in prison in Lagos. We don’t know where he is,” Zara Bako said.

“Two of my children died after his arrest and we were asked to leave our home because we couldn’t pay rent. We have five children we care for and don’t have the means to look after them. I want the government to release my husband so that we can reunite. We know he is innocent.”

Zara Babundi, who leads Jire Dole, a network of survivors and relatives of missing persons of the JAS, said the women had gathered to ask for the release of their innocent loved ones.

Fatima Bukar, who represents wives of men who had been arrested in Dalori, said her husband was detained by soldiers in 2014 but she did not know where he was being kept.

She and the family wanted to reunite. “He is not Boko Haram fighter,” she said.

Zara Bulama said soldiers had arrested her husband and two relatives. Her husband, Lawan Gunduli Bulama, sold kola nuts at the Bulabulin bus stop. Modu Alhaji Bulama was a student at the Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri and Adam Bulama Kurna was a Keke-Napep – tricycle − operator until his arrest.

She said she had been lying to her children about their father but she could not continue doing so because their friends had started mocking them, saying they did not have a father.

“I told them their father had been with the military for six years, but the truth is that I do not know where he is or if he is even alive,” Zara Bulama said.

Hajja Hamsatu Allamin, the founder and executive director of the Allamin Foundation, said more than 5,000 wives and mothers were registered with the organisation. All had husbands and sons who were missing.

She said the women desperately wanted to know where their men were and if they were still alive.

She urged Borno State government to inform the women of the whereabouts of their men, adding that the women were living in a state of agitation and trepidation and desperately needed information.