A woman who wants to remain unnamed has
described to BBC Hausa the evils and ordeals
going on right now in the town of Baga after
she escaped the town of Baga, Kukawa LGA,
Borno State which is currently under the
control of Boko Haram.
Boko Haram carried out one of its deadliest
attacks earlier this month town of Baga. The
exact number of people has not been verified
killed the military claim over 2,000 people
have died but one woman who survived the
attacks has told the BBC Hausa service about
life in the town.
The woman’s story was was narrated by the
BBC. In her story she describes how Boko
Haram are running the town and how bodies
on the street have started decomposing. She
also describes how women have taking
interest in the militants and marriages being
arranged.
“Boko Haram fighters are currently in control
of the town. When they attacked, they
destroyed shops and burnt down our houses.
There are lots of bodies scattered on the
street and some have started decomposing.
The militants gathered the old men who could
not leave the town and some strong women
and forced them to bury the corpses because
of the stench – I saw all of this.
Infra-red images show people in the village
of Doron Baga on January 2 – before the
attack
Baga after the attack
Many of the women could not escape during
the attack and we were all brought with the
old men to the palace of the traditional ruler. I
spent a week there.
In the mornings and evenings the insurgents
would gather the women together and preach
to them.
Two days after the attack, a man who claimed
to be Abubakar Shekau [the leader of Boko
Haram] came and addressed us. He said:
“Today, where is your government from local
to highest level? You are now under our
control.” And he preached to us.
After that, Shekau and many of the insurgents
left the town in the hands of some Boko
Haram members who are from Baga.
These men have taken control of the young
women in the town. They rape and abuse our
daughters.
In the evening they choose ones who are
neither pregnant nor nursing mothers and take
them away. They don’t bring them back until
the morning. If it is not rape what are they
doing to them?
But there are some young women who show
interest in the Boko Haram militants and want
to marry them. I saw about 25 of them who
were having good relationships with them.
The Boko Haram fighters have also taken over
the hospitals. In the mornings, the militants
come and ask if there is any woman who is
not feeling well and they take her to hospital.
They took away all the goods in the market
before destroying it. I counted close to 20
vehicles full of goods from the market and
they feed the women from this.
One day we begged the militants to let us go
home to shower and change our dirty clothes.
Some of them agreed and escorted us to the
house. They waited outside while we went in.
We then got out from the other end of the
house and fled. That is how we escaped.”
The latest Boko Haram attack on Baga was
some weeks back when the insurgents killed
scores of soldiers in the Multinational Joint
Task Force (MJTF) base, Baga, Kukawa LGA,
Borno State.
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