About a dozen parents of the more than 200
kidnapped schoolgirls will never see their
daughters again. Since the mass abduction of the
schoolgirls by Islamic extremists three months
ago, at least 11 of
their parents have died and their hometown, Chibok,
is under siege from the militants, residents report.
Seven fathers of kidnapped girls were among 51
bodies brought to Chibok hospital after an attack on
the nearby village of Kautakari this month, said a
health worker who insisted on anonymity for fear of
reprisals by the extremists.
At least four more parents have died of heart failure,
high blood pressure and other illnesses that the
community blames on trauma due to the mass
abduction 100 days ago, said community leader Pogu
Bitrus, who provided their names.
Troubled area
"One father of two of the girls kidnapped just went
into a kind of coma and kept repeating the names of
his daughters, until life left him," said Bitrus.
Chibok is cut off because of frequent attacks on the
roads that are studded with burned out vehicles.
Commercial flights no longer go into the troubled
area and the government has halted charter flights.
Through numerous phone calls to Chibok and the
surrounding area, The Associated Press has gathered
information about the situation in the town where the
students were kidnapped from their school.
Boko Haram is closing in on Chibok, attacking villages
ever closer to the town. Villagers who survive the
assaults are swarming into the town, swelling its
population and straining resources. A food crisis
looms, along with shortages of money and fuel, said
community leader Bitrus.
Counselling
On the bright side, some of the young women who
escaped are recovering, said a health worker, who
insisted on anonymity because he feared reprisals
from Boko Haram.
Girls who had first refused to discuss their
experience, now are talking about it and taking part
in therapeutic singing and drawing — a few drew
homes, some painted flowers and one young woman
drew a picture of a soldier with a gun last week.
Girls who said they would never go back to school
now are thinking about how to continue their
education, he said.
Counselling is being offered to families of those
abducted and to some of the 57 students who
managed to escape in the first few days, said the
health worker. He is among 36 newly trained in grief
and rape counselling, under a programme funded by
USAID.
All the escapees remain deeply concerned about
their schoolmates who did not get away.
Stigma
Boko Haram filmed a video in which they threatened
to sell the students into slavery and as child brides. It
also showed a couple of the girls describing their
"conversion" from Christianity to Islam.
At least two have died of snake bites, a mediator who
was liaising with Boko Haram told AP two months
ago. At that time he said at least 20 of the girls were
ill — not surprising given that they are probably
being held in an area infested with malarial
mosquitoes, poisonous snakes and spiders, and
relying on unclean water from rivers.
Most of the schoolgirls are still believed to be held in
the Sambisa Forest — a wildlife reserve that includes
almost impenetrably thick jungle as well as more
open savannah.
Famine
The forest borders on sand dunes marking the edge
of the Sahara Desert. Sightings of the girls and their
captors have been reported in neighbouring
Cameroon and Chad.
In Chibok, the town's population is under stress.
"There are families that are putting up four and five
other families," local leader Bitrus said, adding that
food stocks are depleted. Livestock has been looted
by Boko Haram so villagers are arriving empty
handed. Worst of all, no one is planting though it is
the rainy season, he said.
"There is a famine looming," he warned.
Chibok and nearby villages are targets because they
are enclaves of staunch Christians in predominantly
Muslim north Nigeria.
The number of soldiers guarding Chibok has
increased from 15 to about 200 since the kidnapping
but they have done little to increase security in
Chibok, said Bitrus. The soldiers often refuse to
deploy to villages under attack though there is
advance warning 90 percent of the time, he said.
State of emergency
Last month the extremists took control and raised
their black flags over two villages within 30km of
Chibok. Last week they ordered residents of another
village just 16km away to clear out, Bitrus said. Every
village in the neighboring Damboa area has been
attacked and sacked, and all the villages bordering
Cameroon have been burned and are deserted,
Bitrus said, quoting residents who fled.
The attacks continue despite the fact the military
placed the area under a state of emergency in May
2013.
Residents feel so abandoned that they appealed this
month for the United Nations to send troops to
protect them. The UN has repeatedly urged Nigeria's
government to live up to its international
responsibility to protect citizens.
President Goodluck Jonathan insists his government
and military are doing everything possible to ensure
the girls' release. The defence ministry says it knows
where they are but fears any military campaign could
lead to their deaths.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in a new video
released this week repeated his demands that
Jonathan release detained extremists in exchange for
the girls — an offer Jonathan has so far refused.
After three months, few Chibok residents believe all
the schoolgirls will ever return home.
kidnapped schoolgirls will never see their
daughters again. Since the mass abduction of the
schoolgirls by Islamic extremists three months
ago, at least 11 of
their parents have died and their hometown, Chibok,
is under siege from the militants, residents report.
Seven fathers of kidnapped girls were among 51
bodies brought to Chibok hospital after an attack on
the nearby village of Kautakari this month, said a
health worker who insisted on anonymity for fear of
reprisals by the extremists.
At least four more parents have died of heart failure,
high blood pressure and other illnesses that the
community blames on trauma due to the mass
abduction 100 days ago, said community leader Pogu
Bitrus, who provided their names.
Troubled area
"One father of two of the girls kidnapped just went
into a kind of coma and kept repeating the names of
his daughters, until life left him," said Bitrus.
Chibok is cut off because of frequent attacks on the
roads that are studded with burned out vehicles.
Commercial flights no longer go into the troubled
area and the government has halted charter flights.
Through numerous phone calls to Chibok and the
surrounding area, The Associated Press has gathered
information about the situation in the town where the
students were kidnapped from their school.
Boko Haram is closing in on Chibok, attacking villages
ever closer to the town. Villagers who survive the
assaults are swarming into the town, swelling its
population and straining resources. A food crisis
looms, along with shortages of money and fuel, said
community leader Bitrus.
Counselling
On the bright side, some of the young women who
escaped are recovering, said a health worker, who
insisted on anonymity because he feared reprisals
from Boko Haram.
Girls who had first refused to discuss their
experience, now are talking about it and taking part
in therapeutic singing and drawing — a few drew
homes, some painted flowers and one young woman
drew a picture of a soldier with a gun last week.
Girls who said they would never go back to school
now are thinking about how to continue their
education, he said.
Counselling is being offered to families of those
abducted and to some of the 57 students who
managed to escape in the first few days, said the
health worker. He is among 36 newly trained in grief
and rape counselling, under a programme funded by
USAID.
All the escapees remain deeply concerned about
their schoolmates who did not get away.
Stigma
Boko Haram filmed a video in which they threatened
to sell the students into slavery and as child brides. It
also showed a couple of the girls describing their
"conversion" from Christianity to Islam.
At least two have died of snake bites, a mediator who
was liaising with Boko Haram told AP two months
ago. At that time he said at least 20 of the girls were
ill — not surprising given that they are probably
being held in an area infested with malarial
mosquitoes, poisonous snakes and spiders, and
relying on unclean water from rivers.
Most of the schoolgirls are still believed to be held in
the Sambisa Forest — a wildlife reserve that includes
almost impenetrably thick jungle as well as more
open savannah.
Famine
The forest borders on sand dunes marking the edge
of the Sahara Desert. Sightings of the girls and their
captors have been reported in neighbouring
Cameroon and Chad.
In Chibok, the town's population is under stress.
"There are families that are putting up four and five
other families," local leader Bitrus said, adding that
food stocks are depleted. Livestock has been looted
by Boko Haram so villagers are arriving empty
handed. Worst of all, no one is planting though it is
the rainy season, he said.
"There is a famine looming," he warned.
Chibok and nearby villages are targets because they
are enclaves of staunch Christians in predominantly
Muslim north Nigeria.
The number of soldiers guarding Chibok has
increased from 15 to about 200 since the kidnapping
but they have done little to increase security in
Chibok, said Bitrus. The soldiers often refuse to
deploy to villages under attack though there is
advance warning 90 percent of the time, he said.
State of emergency
Last month the extremists took control and raised
their black flags over two villages within 30km of
Chibok. Last week they ordered residents of another
village just 16km away to clear out, Bitrus said. Every
village in the neighboring Damboa area has been
attacked and sacked, and all the villages bordering
Cameroon have been burned and are deserted,
Bitrus said, quoting residents who fled.
The attacks continue despite the fact the military
placed the area under a state of emergency in May
2013.
Residents feel so abandoned that they appealed this
month for the United Nations to send troops to
protect them. The UN has repeatedly urged Nigeria's
government to live up to its international
responsibility to protect citizens.
President Goodluck Jonathan insists his government
and military are doing everything possible to ensure
the girls' release. The defence ministry says it knows
where they are but fears any military campaign could
lead to their deaths.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in a new video
released this week repeated his demands that
Jonathan release detained extremists in exchange for
the girls — an offer Jonathan has so far refused.
After three months, few Chibok residents believe all
the schoolgirls will ever return home.
