The 13-year insurgency in northeastern Nigeria has dramatically changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of women, whose husbands were killed or maimed in relentless violent attacks, which had forced them to become the breadwinners of their families and had altered their lives forever.
With few skills and little to no education, most of the widows had struggled to make ends meet. Many ended up doing menial jobs. Some begged on the streets. Others did housework. A few had even resorted to high-risk coping strategies, such as transactional sex in exchange for money or food so that they could feed their families
The majority of the widows were victims of displacements as they were forced to flee the violence in their communities so that they could get to a place of safety. Most ended up living in internally displaced persons’ camps. There are far more women and children than men in these camps, which are scattered all over Borno State.
RNI reporter Fanna Usman spoke to some of women in Central Primary School, an IDP camp in Damboa, a local government area in Borno State.
Aisa Abba said her children had been forced to leave school because she could not afford the fees and did not have money to buy uniforms for them.
Her husband was a hunter but he was killed by the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), more commonly known as Boko Haram.
“My husband was shot dead by Boko Haram fighters 11 months ago. He was out hunting at the time. Since then we have experienced many problems. We lack food and I cannot afford to buy clothes for the family. I do not have enough money to pay for school fees and uniforms for my children, so the school told them they had to leave.”
Abba said she was doing domestic work for a well-off family, so she had some money coming in but it was not enough and she was able to buy only the basics for her family.
Fatima Kolo said her husband became ill when they had been forced to flee their village because of the frequent deadly attacks by the JAS. They moved into the IDP camp in Damboa.
“My husband died six months ago. We are really struggling. Businesses have closed, there is no work and not enough food. We cannot go to Maiduguri because the road between Damboa and there has been closed for two years. Military troops are patrolling the forests to try to keep the insurgents at bay.
“Some local and international non-governmental organisations [NGOs] used to bring us food quite regularly but they have stopped, although a short while back the Mercy Corps delivered some food to the camp.”
Yakolo Dambalye, a grandmother of six children, said her son had died from fever. She was appointed by the family to look after the children. They live in Damboa but outside the camp.
“My biggest challenge is providing food for the children. I cut wood to sell, do some housework or wash dishes just to make some money so that there will be enough food for the children. As I get older, I am finding life more difficult.”
