Sorrows of a Chibok Mum

One of the Chibok's abducted girls Mum

Rebecca Ejifoma writes a moving story of one of the mothers of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State

“We were at home that night. They called and told us that the Boko Haram militants were coming and we quickly began to seek for hideout out of fear. But soon we were called again that they had gone to our children’s school. I became restive until the next morning. At daybreak I boarded a bike and left for my daughter’s school only to see that my world had crumbled,” said Mrs. Monica Stover whose daughter is still being held by insurgents.

It was evening time on July 23 and exactly 100 days since mothers were separated from their children in Chibok, Borno State.
The whole of Falomo Roundabout in Lagos was jam-packed with people who had come share in her pain, but only Mrs. Stover knows where the shoe really pinches in her own case.

For a fleeting moment, screened pictures with the names of each missing Chibok girl brought tears to the eyes of everyone around including the passers-by.

And every now and then, thunderous shout making a demand for the return of the girls would rent the atmosphere. There were songs of justice and courage as the Women for Peace and Justice led by able women like the Chief Executive Officer, Murtala Mohammed Foundation and Coordinator for the BringBackOurGirls Lagos, Ms. Aisha Oyebode and Yemisi Ramsome Kuti, took to the street to keep the memory of the kidnapped girls alive.

For Stover, it was an opportunity to speak out. The anguish she has suffered was evident in her shaky voice each time she spoke to the megaphone. Her 17-year-old daughter, Saraya was forcibly taken away on April 14 and no one has been able to console her with a good news of Saraya’s return.

She slowly muttered a word in Hausa language to thank the people who came to show solidarity with her cause. She said: “Nagode.”
She thanked all the men and women around for their help with a single request to them to help bring back her daughter from unknown hideout where they are being kept by the insurgents.

According to Mrs. Stover, It was barely a month after her husband was admitted to the hospital for an undisclosed ailment that the incident of her daughter’s abduction happened.

“And, to worsen it all, we are suffering so much in the village, because we live in the bush. Days after the abduction, they burnt down our homes, so we had to go into the bushes to live,” she said.

Perhaps, if Buchi Emecheta’s Joys of Motherhood was written in this era, then it may have been titled the sorrows of motherhood based on the stories from Chibok.

Mrs. Stover lamented that it was the Chibok women that buried the 73 men that were killed in their village. So now that they have lost their homes and their men to Boko Haram attacks, they all live in the bush against their will. “It is a nightmare and an exasperating experience for us,” she said.

She added: “As we are in the bush, if we see any shadow we become afraid and run further into the bush. If someone coughs right there in the bush, we all run away very quickly, because we are frightened that we may be attacked.”

While, narrating the pains that mothers in Chibok are going through, the Hausa speaking mother, who came with an interpreter added that where they sleep in the bush, pregnant women are having their babies. “I helped them deliver their babies. But before I do, I remind them that there is no hospital to take them (the mother and her baby) to. If the child dies, will you hold me responsible? I asked her. And she replied no. thanks to God I cut the placenta and the child is fine,” she narrated.

Although, they live in the bush with all their remaining families, she said, they are frightened every moment. “Whenever any child cries, everyone runs away from that woman, whose child it is. With the sound of that child those people, Boko Haram, may find us all. And they will kill us.”

She explained that her 17- year-old daughter is among the girls in the Sambisa forest. But according to her, one man had told her that her daughter was among those who escaped but even until now she has not found her.

“I have combed the whole of the possible routes the others took; I searched 20 kilometres round. Even until now I have not seen her if truly she escaped. Although people told me that after she escaped, the Boko Haram boys caught and returned her to the forest.”
“As courageous as my Saraya Stover is the Boko Haram could still take her away. Even until now I am yet to find Saraya,” she said nervously.

Meanwhile, another resident of Chibok community, Mrs. Esther Musa, who was in the crowd with her little girl, said: “They are too many. The Boko Haram insurgents are so many that they are everywhere. If you live in Borno you can’t sleep, because of the sound of the gunshot every time. We are always afraid.”

Explaining the horrific experience they go through daily, Mrs. Musa said that Boko Haram militants do not kill older women. “They let every old women go. But once they come across any young girl, whether married or not, they carry her away; so long she is a young person, Boko Haram members will take her away”, she said.

She added: “If we choose to run to another state where would we stay? Who will give us shelter? How can we run away to another state when we are so many in numbers?”

Mrs. Musa who came alongside her neighbour, Mrs. Mary Yakubu, said the war in Borno State is still on, because the deadly insurgents are in control and still in full force in many part of the state.

For the Speak Out Initiative, other members of Chibok community including male and female were present. In the words of the National President of Chibok Youth Association, Moses Zakwa, they all shared a common concern at this time

He said: “Going by the recent activities of Boko Haram in the Chibok area, these girls, if successfully rescued which we are trusting God for, may not come home to meet their parents and relatives alive. This is because of the massive onslaught by the terrorists against the whole Kibaku community in Chibok Local Government Area in the past few months.”
The terrorists according to him move from one village to the other burning houses.

“Chibok is inhabited predominantly by the Kibaku speaking people and has more than 35 communities. Today, more than 30 of these communities have been sacked by the terrorist’s continuous attack, creating very serious humanitarian situation in that part of the country,” he explained.

Zakwa further stated that the insurgents attacked these communities freely without resistance, as the only security present in the LGC is in Chibok town, which is the LG Headquarters.

Despite their presence, he lamented, they don’t respond to distressed calls even if it is a Kilometre from their base. “There are instances where they have reportedly told the people in most of the communities they have attacked to prepare for the day. Truly, they would strike.”

Therefore, he appealed, “The Federal Government, non-governmental organisations, corporate bodies and kind hearted individuals to come to our aid by establishing camps in some safe suitable locations. If possible, Adamawa state for the people of Chibok LG to enable the displaced persons to take refuge.”

While addressing participants at the WPJ programme, tagged, 100 Days of Captivity, Ms. Ransome Kuti led a procession of participants round the Falomo roundabout while mentioning the names of some of the abducted girls.

She urged that the Government should equip the soldiers, because they are being killed too. “We must continue to pray and stand for the girls. This has not happened before in the history of mankind. We want the girls to be brought back to us alive and now.”
Participants were made to understand that they were not alone. The people of Ibadan, Abuja, Australia, Atlanta, Lagos, New York, Oshogbo and London were strongly with them in these trying times.

Kaka Sara, who came with Mrs. Stover, said, “The President is trying but he is not trying enough. He promised us that these girls would be brought back. Where are they now?” The women also disclosed that when Mrs. Stover was taken to hospital (withheld) the doctor said her Blood Pressure was 235. For security purpose, they refused to tell the doctor who she really is although he insisted to know why.

Members of the Chibok community joined in the march and sang songs of freedom. Others present at the venue were Hasfat Costello-Abiola and the Chairman of Chibok Community Lagos Chapter, Mr. Zakariya Ali and others.

Source: Thisday