Emotions were mixed when insurgents released 158 captives unconditionally in Yobe State. Why? The joy of freeedom was undercut by the agony of children still held back by the extremists. But relief materials donated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) may cheer them up a bit, DUKU JOEL reports
PERHAPS, the relief materials will cheer them up a bit. When Boko Haram insurgents released some 158 captives in Yobe State, there was probably as much joy as grief. One man, for instance, was happy to have his wife back with some of their children after three weeks, but not all their offspring were set free by the militants.
That was the picture in Damaturu, the state capital, as the freed captives reunited with their relatives.
Now, help has come for them. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) some relief materials.
NEMA Northeast Zonal Coordinator, Mohammed Kanar presented the materials, saying, the intervention was “to compliment the efforts made by the Yobe State government”.
He praised the state for setting up a good structure which he said will enhance care for victims of disaster in line with NEMA standards.
Kanar also said that the agency had been directly distributing relief materials to victims of insurgency in the state, pointing out that the agency was ready to assist the state government in identifying the the medical and psychological needs of the victims and how to manage them.
The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Alhaji Idi Jidawa who received the items on behalf of the state government, thanked the Federal Government for the gesture, assuring that the materials would get to the victims.
He said, ”This is the first time that NEMA is making a formal presentation to SEMA for onward distribution to victims of insurgency in the state.”
Items distributed included bags of rice, noodles, vegetable oil, tomatoes and cloth, among others.
The 158 victims comprising 62 adults and 96 children were abducted early January after an attack on Katarko community.
Out of the 62 women, 15 lost their husbands to the attackers.
It was a pleasant surprise, for the insurgents were under no apparent pressure. The 158 victims were set free unconditionally, with no apparent physical injuries.
Most of those released were women and children.
Sometime in early January, the insurgents launched a heavy attack on Katarko village some 20km away from Damaturu where they killed all able-bodied men on sight and abducted about 200 people mostly women and children.
After their release on January 24, the eve of President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign visit to Maiduguri, some unconfirmed reports filtered in that government secured their release. Another version had it that the insurgents could not cope with the cost of feeding the women and their children hence the decision to release them unconditionally.
It was gathered that some of the grownup boys kidnapped along with the women were either killed and dumped in wells or dropped by the roadside. The stories went on until they were freed.
Most of them had said their last prayers for themselves and their children.
Fannam Bukar who was abducted with her five children, was freed with three of them while the remaining two are still in the hands of the insurgents.
“Myself and five of my children were taken away by Boko Haram,” she said amid tears. “I came out with only three of them (pointing at three small girls by her side). My two sons are still with them. My first son is 15 years old and the second one is 13. Only Allah knows what they are going now. I pray that Allah will bring them back safely to me.”
Another woman, Aisha Dauda, saw her husband brutally murdered by the insurgents before she was whisked away with her three children to a place she described as “a big building” that she had never seen before in her life.
“On that day when they came to our village,” she said, my husband and I were in the house including my children. When we heard the gunshots; we wanted to run but it was too late. My husband came out of the house and he was surrounded by the Boko Haram boys. One of them put a gun in his head, asking him where he was going to. I was hiding in the room but I could still see what was going on between my husband and the boys. I was praying for his life and the next thing I heard was his head on the ground.”
As she narrated, Aisha often held her breathe, fighting back tears.
Were they manhandled? Not quite. Most of the women attested to the fact that they were treated with dignity.
One of the victims, Fanta Mohammed, said, “To say the truth, they did not maltreat us since they took us away. Throughout the three weeks that we stayed in their camp, they provided us with enough food and drinks. They gave us soap and water to bathe through some small, small boys in the camp. Sometimes they even gave us perfumes to spray on our bodies.
“Anytime they entered our apartment to preach their ideologies to us, they asked us to avoid looking at them. They will always call us pagans. When they were releasing us, they asked us to prepare and join those pagans in the town.
“We thank God that we have reunited with our family members after three weeks of being in captivity,” Fanta said.
Bintu Lawan gave an insight into their release. She said they asked them to decide whether to join their religion or leave to join other pagans outside of their camps.
“They asked us to join their religion and we told them we will not practice their style of religion. So they agreed to release us, saying we should go and join the pagans who have the symbol of the green-white-green flag in Nigeria, vowing that they will meet with us one day. But we then told them we would rather join the pagans.”
She added: “They often provided raw food items to us and we cooked them ourselves. They gave us soap, perfume and any other basic needs you can think of. It’s only God that released us from the hands of these dreaded militants,” she said.
Abdulrahaman Dauda was the first person to receive a call from his friend who sighted the freed victims at a village called Kasaisa near Damaturu. He informed security personnel because his two wives and five children were among the victims.
Despite his re-unification with his family, his joy was not complete as his two grownup sons were still held by the insurgents.
“I thank God because today I have my wives and three of my other children back. I am happy I have seen my family again but my two grownup sons are still in the hands of Boko Haram. I only pray that they return safely,” Abdulrahaman said.
Aisha Dauda said: “I am happy because I came out alive to see my husband and other members of the family. My husband has informed me that two of our children are still missing. We are not sure what happened to them.”
The freed captives were presented to their families at a ceremony organised by the State Special Committee on Rehabilitation of Victims of Insurgency in the state headed by Mr. Ahmed Mustapha Goniri, a lawyer, who is also the state Commissioner for Justice.
He said that all the freed victims were in sound health, maintaining that the military Joint Task Force (JTF) in conjunction with his committee and medical experts have examined the mental, psychological, and medical state of the victims.
The event was also co-organised by the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). Relief materials were presented to the freed victims.
Goniri during the presentation, said, “Out of the 158 that are freed, 62 are adults and the rest are children of the victims. Of the 62 adults, there are 15 widows among them. The Yobe State government as part of her resolve to cushion the sufferings of the victims has decided to give each of the widows two bags of rice; one bag of sugar; two cartons of noodles, wrappers and N50,000 cash while the remaining will receive the same quantity of items with N30,000.”
He thanked the parents for their patience during the period the victims were screened by the security operatives.
The voluntary release of these detainees was the first since the insurgency started in the Northeast six years ago. Over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the insurgents last year were yet to be freed.
