Fatsuma Abdullahi lived with her parents
in Damaturu, before her husband’s friends
kidnapped her, along with others, to
remote camps in Gombi and Talala and
forced her to marry a Boko Haram
‘scholar’. She opened up to Daily Trust on
her experience.
Daily Trust: After you were kidnapped by
Boko Haram members, what happened to
you next?
Fatsuma Abdullahi: We spent four weeks in
Gombi town and proceeded to Markas, a
forest in Sambisa near Talala village where
we finally settled. Months later, the
insurgents insisted I marry one of them, an
offer I turned down. I gave in when they
threatened to sell me off. That’s how I
ended up married to Boko Haram ‘scholar’,
Abu Hafsah for three years.
DT: How did you escape?
Fatsuma: The ideology clash between
Shekau and Mamman Nur helped my
people escape, because the strong
members were too obsessed by it. In fact,
Shekau killed many scholars who
advocated for the Chibok Girls swap deal
with government.
Shekau and his followers still hold the
belief that all Nigerians are infidels, except
those who follow his path. While on the
other hand, Mamman Nur and the learned
people among the members opined that
anybody that observes the five pillars of
Islam is a Muslim.
DT: You said Shekau killed many in cold
blood…
Fatsuma: Yes. My husband, who is also a
scholar, was against the killings, so he
supported Mamman Nur. One day, he
confided in me his plan to defect.
Unfortunately, some militants came in the
night and told him that Shekau ordered
them to pick him. He woke me up and
handed his new phone to me, and advised
me to sell it and escape with the children
because Shekau is going to kill him.
Weeks later, Shekau sent his fighters to kill
all the men in Markas, because they
rebelled. It was a major battle, but luckily
our men defeated Shekau’s.
After that incident, our men joined
Mamman Nur, and we were taken to
Gwangon area, very close to Damboa town.
The persecution became worse after
Albaghdadi announced his support for
Mamman Nur. Shekau refused to back
down, that Albaghdadi is also an infidel,
and threatened that he will not spare even
women and children in the forest.
Many of us panicked when he made that
statement. I told the other women my
intention to escape, but none of them
bought the idea. They warned that
vigilantes are everywhere in the bush, and
they would be cruel if found that I escaped
from Boko Haram. But I’d already made up
my mind.
About 11:30pm, I backed my child and took
the bush path with my four children. We
trekked for about four hours, then came
across five insurgents. They helped me
identify the proper route Buni Yadi. As we
spoke, vigilantes sprang out of nowhere
and shot one of them dead. I didn’t run,
but my son ran with the escaping
insurgents. I still can’t find him.
DT: Had you ever been to Sambisa Forest,
before the ideology crisis?
Fatsuma: Yes, we went there after the
army dislodged us from Buni Yadi. At that
time, Markas was not a safe place, so we
went to Sambisa. We spent some weeks
but Shekau refused to talk to us, so we
went back to Markas.
DT: Were you able to see the Chibok girls?
Fatsuma: Yes, but most of them were sold
off as slaves. Some were married off, and
others imprisoned. One of them lived in a
room next to mine. She wanted to escape,
but I couldn’t help her then.
DT: Were you there when Shekau
demanded for Chibok Girls swap?
Fatsuma: Actually, it was Mamman Nur
who tried to bargain for the Boko haram
scholars. But Shekau is the one keeping the
Chibok Girls. He kicked against the idea,
and threatened to kill the girls if it came to
that. My husband told me before he was
killed that Shekau will not release the
Chibok Girls.
Source: Dailytrust
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