A clergy and expert on counter-terrorism, Oladimeji Thompson, of The Omoluabi Network, who has been working with other groups to assist victims of the abduction overcome their pains, gave a chilling narration based on an account of one of the escapees.
He said, "One of the girls I interviewed was being raped 15 times by 15 men every day." He said the girl was traumatised and confused.
"It's obvious this girl needs to be managed. She looked confused. She found it hard to talk to me but after much prodding, she confessed to me that she was raped 15 times by 15 men throughout the time she was with the Islamic insurgents before she could escape from their den.
"A girl who has been raped by 15 men every day, you say you negotiate and gave her back and release a terrorist who will go out and kill more. What negotiators do is to say that they must not tell their stories, they blanket all the information. In a situation like this, it is the Boko Haram that wins more."
Asked if the girl was not pregnant after her ordeal in the hands of the insurgents, the pastor, probably in an attempt to protect the schoolgirl, declined further comments asking our correspondent to move to other issues.
Many of the mothers confirmed to our correspondent that against all trumped up figures in the media, only three girls have since managed to escape from Boko Haram's den.
The Omoluabi Network is working with other groups such as the Unlikely Heroes, a United States based trauma management specialists and the Gabasawa Women Initiative, a coalition of women across Northern Nigeria led by Kucheli Balami, to provide psychological and emotional support for the escaped girls and their grieving parents.
He called on government not to negotiate with the terrorist group but explore every other option in rescuing the missing girls.
Meanwhile, one of the grieving mothers, Esther Yakubu, has been in real pains since her daughter, Dorcas, was forcefully taken away together with over 200 others by the insurgents. Since then, Yakubu's world has not remained the same. Life, she says, has lost its meaning.
As she settled into the chair in the tiny room, adjusting herself slowly before managing to look into your eyes, you could tell the severity of her pains. Heartbroken, weak and hardly able to speak, Yakubu is in real pains. Since "My daughter had never spent a day without me except when she was in school," she told our correspondent in Lagos in a rare encounter in the course of the week.
"Anytime I remember her and what she could be passing through, I really can't express how I feel. She is not an ordinary child; I carried her in my womb for 10 months before giving birth to her. I took good care of her because her father is an orphan. I assist him in taking care of our children because we believe they have bright futures.
"My daughter says she wants to be a teacher, her little sibling says she wants to be a doctor. But now, I don't know what will happen to all that dream. Before she left home for school, she said to me, "mama, I am going to school, I will be writing my final paper, please pray for me to be successful and become something in life. That was the last conversation we had."
Tomorrow, June 8, Dorcas would have been 16. There were plans to make it a memorable one especially as it would have been her first birthday after secondary school life. But sadly, the latest development means there would be no celebration in the home of the Yakubus – at least for now. Apart from taking away their first and most promising child, the terrorists also took the family's peace and joy along.
"It's been a miserable period for the family. Her younger siblings always ask me where their sister is. The small one who is four years old says to the other that the soldiers took Dorcas away, that they took her to Maiduguri. The elder one would say no, that it is Boko Haram that took her away and not the soldiers.
"Since this thing happened, my husband has never stayed in the house for even 30 minutes during the day time because if he sees me crying, he will also break down in tears. So, most times, he comes in to take his bath and goes out again. He has been thinking every day," she said.
Recalling events leading to her daughter's unexpected disappearance on that fateful day, the visibly troubled Yakubu told Saturday PUNCH that the girls were tricked by the insurgents and that there was a strange mood in Chibok shortly before the incident.
"We were confused at first because the girls used to shout whenever there was danger. But on that day, there was total silence. We never knew those people had arrested them, telling them they came to take them to a safe place because Chibok was not good for them. The girls never knew they were Boko Haram. There was no shouting; there was no noise, so we all thought it was a joke.
"By the time I got to the school, I only saw one girl in the hostel. There was nobody else. I thought children are spared during attacks, but at Chibok, they packed both elderly and little girls away.
"On the day that thing happened, there was nobody to help. The soldiers tried, but they were not many. There were only 15 of them guarding Chibok before that incident happened. We are too many for 15 soldiers to protect," the mother of five said.
A handful of other mothers who interacted with our correspondent during the chance meeting in Lagos during the week, also expressed concern over the safety and health conditions of their daughters. Many of them are worried that if rescue efforts drag on, the girls could be afflicted with all manner of sicknesses or even lose their lives in the process.
Erica Greve is the founder and leader of Unlikely Heroes. She told Saturday PUNCH how they hope to help the Chibok mothers and girls overcome the trauma caused by the incident. She is worried about the girls still in captivity.
"It is very important for us to keep in mind that the longer these girls are in captivity, the more trauma they are experiencing. That every second, every moment, everyday matters to these girls and they want to be rescued as soon as possible. We all need to remember that the longer they stay in captivity, the more support services and care they will need after they have been released.
"The abduction of these girls is not only affecting them, their mothers and families, it is affecting their communities and the nation as a whole. I just spoke with a mother here in Lagos and she told me that her daughter is afraid of going to school because she fears she could be kidnapped as well.
"Once the girls in captivity return, the reality is that our work has only just begun. These girls are going to need trauma therapy, immediate medical care and all the things they will need to properly stabilise and overcome this trauma. It is mostly likely that when they get out they will need up to 10 to 16 weeks to be able to recover from the shock.
"It is also important that they are placed in a very safe environment. The safer the environment that they are placed in, the quicker they will be able to heal. The more specialised care that they are given immediately upon return, the easier it will be for them to recover and be re-integrated into their normal communities and everyday life," she said.
Last week, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, told newsmen that they had located the whereabouts of the young girls but that they were taking all necessary precaution in freeing them from captivity. Earlier this week, the Australian government, through its Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, offered to allow its special forces partake in the search for the girls. The Nigerian government, according to Thompson, is yet to accede to that request. Mothers and family members of the abducted young women would be hoping for a quick resolution to the problem even as they look forward to wrapping their daughters in their arms sometime as soon as possible. But for now, they are living with the pains and wounds brought by the sad incident.
-Punch
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