Nine of 16 girls and women, who were abducted by the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), in an attack on Pemi Village on Thursday, January 20, were allowed to go free when cars belonging to the insurgents broke down in the forest during their getaway.
The JAS, more commonly known as Boko Haram, kept seven of the girls, allowing the younger girls and wives to leave. They had to walk for hours through the bushes and forest to get back to Pemi, arriving the following day.
Habu Musa, a resident of the village, which is in the Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, told RNI reporter Aisha Jamal that the insurgents entered the village at about 5.30pm.
They were in at least six vehicles and on many motorbikes. They were shooting haphazardly and forced the villagers to run for safety. The insurgents followed some villagers to their homes and abducted 16 girls. They also killed a vigilante and burnt down houses, shops and a church, and stole foodstuff, he said.
Troops from Askira and Chibok arrived at about 7pm and battled against the insurgents until 10pm when they were forced to retreat.
“The insurgents used the girls as shields so that the military would not bombard them in an airstrike. They drove far into the forest until some of their vehicles broke down. That was when they chose seven girls and released the nine younger girls and wives.”
Musa said one of the seven girls who were still captive had escaped and ran away with a bag of bullets belonging to the JAS. But her whereabouts were still unknown.
“The insurgents sent a threating message to Pemi Village, warning residents that if they did not return the girl and the bullets they would suffer the consequences and could be attacked again,” he said.
Now residents were frightened and some had already started packing their foodstuff and other important belongings so that they could get to a safer place area in case the insurgents carried out their threat.
Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Borno State, visited Chibok on Tuesday, January 25, and sent his condolences to the families of the missing girls and to those who had lost loved ones in the many recent attacks in the region.
He promised to provide more security in the area to try to prevent similar attacks.
Four more girls, who were abducted earlier this month in an attack on Kautikari village in the Chibok Local Government Area, were released by their captors on Sunday, January 30.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) welcomed their release and called for the immediate release of all conflict-affected children held in captivity across northeast Nigeria.
“UNICEF is very relieved for the released girls and their families,” said Peter Hawkins, the agency’s representative in Nigeria.
“After their harrowing experience, it is good news that the girls are back with their families and friends where they belong. But sadly, dozens of children in northeast Nigeria remain in captivity, the victims of an armed conflict they have nothing to do with. This is unconscionable. Children have the right to a safe environment, health, education and freedom from abuse and torture – all of which remain compromised when they are in captivity,’’ said Hawkins in a statement released by UNICEF on Monday, January 31.
“Children are not the spoils of conflict. All children in captivity must be immediately and safely released to their families,” he said.
Children in Nigeria continued to face unprecedented violations of their rights, including abductions, torture, killings, recruitment into armed groups, and forced marriages, among other abuses of their rights.
UNICEF said that in the northeast, more than 1,000 children had been abducted since 2014, with at least 100 still missing or unaccounted for. Between December and July of last year, at least 1,450 children were abducted, most from their schools, across the central and northwest regions of the country.
