By Praise Afolabi
A 32-year-old woman, Maryam Ibrahim, who recently escaped from Boko Haram captivity in Sambisa Forest, has shared harrowing details of her ordeal, including the loss of her father, husband, and two children to insurgent attacks. She is still searching for three of her seven children who remain missing.
Ibrahim, a native of Madagali in Adamawa State, said she was abducted when armed men invaded her community, pretending they only wanted to buy foodstuffs. “We became relaxed, not knowing it was a trick. One day they asked us to line up as if to collect food, but a teenager with a gun opened fire. Many were killed, and over 50 women were forced into vehicles and taken to Sambisa Forest,” she recounted.
In captivity, she said women were treated as property and subjected to daily assaults. “If any woman refused, she was beaten. They gave me gari and water to survive,” she said. Ibrahim explained that her assigned duties included fetching water and firewood, as well as cleaning guns and arranging bullets for fighters.
Her escape came when fighters left for an operation. “I pretended to fetch water, slipped away, and helped a boy who had been tied to a tree. Together we ran until a man stopped to help us. He took us to a military barracks, where we stayed and were cared for four months,” she said.
Ibrahim has since resettled in a host community but continues to grieve her family’s losses. “I lost my father and husband to the conflict. I believe God will help me find my missing children, as others have been reunited with theirs,” she said.
Her story underscores the lingering scars of Boko Haram’s insurgency on families across northeast Nigeria.
