25-year-old Wife of Boko Haram Commander Runs Back to Him in Sambisa After Being Freed (Photo)

 

A 25-year-old who was kidnapped by Boko Haram has returned to Boko Haram, her family has told the BBC. Aisha Yerima spoke to Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani before she returned, saying: "I now see that all the things Boko Haram told us were lies. Now, when I listen to them on the radio, I laugh."

 

She made those comments shortly after completing a de-radicalisation programme, yet less than five months later she fled her family home and returned to the militants. While in captivity previously, she she had married a commander who showered her with romance, expensive gifts and Arabic love songs.

 

Psychologist Fatima Akila, who has worked with hundreds of women who were rescued from captivity, says they sometimes have a surprising amount of power: "These were women who for the most part had never worked, had no power, no voice in the communities, and all of a sudden they were in charge of between 30 to 100 women who were now completely under their control and at their beck and call."