Human Rights Watch produced a 63-page report titled, 'Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp: Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in North-East Nigeria'. Here are excerpts of true stories of girls that were captured and abused before they found a way to escape.
There has been many speculations about the sexual abuse activities of the Boko Haram sect. Many Nigerians have wondered whether these stories are true or just hear-say. The stories cease to be mere rumours when Human Rights Watch produced a 63-page report titled, 'Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp: Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in North-East Nigeria.' Here are excerpts of true stories of girls that were captured and abused before they found a way to escape.
"He soon began to threaten me with a knife to have sex with him and when I refused, he brought out his gun, warning that he would kill me if I shouted. Then he began to rape me every night … I had never had sex before; it was very painful and I cried bitterly because I was bleeding afterwards.”
- A 15-year-old girl
“I did not know he followed me when I walked a short distance away from the tree under which we slept. He grabbed me from behind, roughly fondling me while trying to take off his pants. I screamed in fright and he hurriedly left me as I continued to shout for help.”
- An 18-year-old girl
“I was lying down in the cave pretending to be ill because I did not want the marriage the commander planned to conduct for me with another insurgent on his return from the Sambisa camp. When the insurgent who had paid my dowry came in to force himself on me, the commander’s wife blocked the cave entrance and watched as the man raped me.”
- A girl
“When we arrived at the camp, they left us under a tree. I managed to sleep. I was exhausted and afraid. Late in the night, two insurgents woke me and another woman, saying their leader wanted to see us. We had no choice but to follow them; but as soon as we moved deep into the bush, one of them dragged me away, while his partner took the other woman to another direction.
“I guessed what they had in mind and I began to cry. I begged him, telling him I was a married woman. He ignored my pleas, flung me on the ground, and raped me. I could not tell anyone what happened, not even my husband.
“I still feel so ashamed and cheated. The other woman told me she was also raped but vowed never to speak of it as she was single and believes that news of her rape would foreclose her chances of marriage.”
- A 19-year-old girl