Several Chibok girls found after six years in captivity

On January 28, several of the girls who were abducted by Boko Haram in 2014 managed to escape from their captors. In April 2014, 276 girls were abducted from a school in the city of Chibok, in the northeastern state of Borno, by the jihadist group Boko Haram. Of these, 112 were still being held hostage or their whereabouts were unknown. According to information confirmed by Sahara Reporters, the women and girls who have managed to escape are not only from the group of Chibok girls but there are also other women who were abducted by Boko Haram among those found. The number of girls who have managed to escape is not yet known. Among them is Halima Ali, 22, who was forcibly married a few months after her abduction and who has been able to talk to her family by phone and is doing well. Her sister Maryam was also kidnapped and married to another member of the terrorist group. According to her testimony, he helped her escape in November 2016 after the birth of her son, as he did not want him to grow up in the forest. He was subsequently arrested by the authorities.  

Several of the sources confirm that there are some girls who have been found coming out of the Boko Haram "forests". The last Chibok girls who managed to return home did so through a prisoner exchange organised by the state in which 82 girls were rescued. Thanks to the testimony of those found, it has been possible to find out what has become of their companions. Some of them have died in childbirth or from disease, others from military fighting, and others still appear in Boko Haram propaganda videos. Last Sunday, the Chief of Defence Staff assured that there are no Chibok girls in the custody of the Nigerian Armed Forces, nor has the government issued a statement on the matter. However, in the conversation she had with her father, Halima claimed to have been rescued by the Nigerian authorities. It is not known, however, where she is or whether she was alone when she made the call.  

The Chibok girls triggered significant media attention, with Michelle Obama leading the #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign. According to Adaobi writer Tricia Nwaubani, both the campaign and the international press treatment distorted what was really happening and is still happening in northern Nigeria. The media portrayed the abduction of the Chibok girls as yet another jihadist attack on Western schools, as was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, equating Al-Qaeda or Daesh with Boko Haram. However, the northeastern Nigerian context of this jihadist group also includes common criminality (banditry) and inter-communal violence.  

Last December an abduction similar to that of the Chibok girls took place in northwest Nigeria, where around 300 children were abducted from their school and Boko Haram claimed that they were the perpetrators. Initially, until Boko Haram released a video showing the students, all indications were that the abduction was carried out by "bandits", which is how criminal and armed communal groups in the region are often referred to. Boko Haram does not have a strong presence in the area, so it was thought that the attackers wanted to abduct the students and then ransom or sell them to organised crime networks. The practice of "express" student abductions is quite common not only in Nigeria, but also in other bordering countries such as Cameroon, where armed groups in the Anglophone zone have kidnapped students and teachers for ransom on several occasions. In the case of the December abduction, despite the video released by Boko Haram, the vast majority of the children were returned within days. The authorities claim that no ransom was involved. Armed groups and criminal gangs in northern Nigeria have links to jihadist groups, but understanding the motive behind abductions is crucial to knowing how to defend against them.