Dirty and dishevelled after being abducted by Boko Haram insurgents, a young mother took a chance and managed to escape her captors three days ago after being held for a month of “hell”.

Mother-of-one Falmata Mohammed, from Dikwa in Borno State, was captured while collecting firewood. She said even though she had been doing the chore for her family for at least two years, nothing like this had ever happened before.

She and three other women were abducted in December. Of the four, she was the only one from Dikwa in Borno State. She said the fighters had abducted “many men” as well but they had been taken into the forest and killed.

“After they abducted us, they took us to Yale, a ward in the Bama Local Government Area, where we were kept. There was food there. Although they would not allow us to eat too much because they said it is not good for believers to eat much food,” said Mohammed.

“The insurgents don’t have lots of food as most people think. They usually go to places, attack people, take all of their belongings − including food items − and then take them to their hideout. We spent days hungry because sometimes there just wasn’t enough food,” Mohammed said.

“Then one day, I was talking to the other three women who were also abducted. Although from Bama Local Government Area, they had been in Dikwa visiting their sick sister. While we were talking, the insurgents left us to go on another ‘operation’. I decided to take a chance and managed to escape,” she said.

“I left my friends in the village in Bama and started praying. I was terrified and kept walking until I could not walk any further. I was so tired I fell asleep under a tree. When I woke up I started walking again.”

Mohammed said she knew the road from Damasak and Bama to Dikwa because that was the route the Boko Haram fighters used when they abducted her.

She realised she was at the entrance to Dikwa when she saw people carrying firewood on their heads. She called for help. But, she said, the people did not trust her and took her to soldiers for questioning.

“I do not blame them because I was filthy and must have looked really bad,” she said. “I told the soldiers what had happened and they believed me. They took me to hospital, where I received treatment for a day before I was discharged. Then I returned home.”

Mohammed said it had been a month of hell and she was happy to be home with the people she loves.

“I am reunited with my child, family and relatives and friends.”