5 years on, 112 Chibok girls missing – but they are just ‘tip of the iceberg’

Five years ago, April 14^th, 2014, about 230 girls from Chibok Girls’ Secondary School in NE Nigeria were rounded up at night by men in army dress and driven off on trucks into the darkness.

In the immediate aftermath, 47 of them escaped; some jumped off the trucks, others managed to get away within a few days.

At least 200 of the girls belonged to the EYN Church: wife of a former President of EYN, Dr. Rebecca Dali (one of the first to visit the parents after the mass kidnap), told World Watch Monitor that she was pleading for the Nigerian government to find and free the girls.

In January 2016, the Nigerian military were reported to have freed 1,000 women held captive by Boko Haram^, – but none of them were Chibok girls.

30 months on, the Islamist terrorist group freed 21 of the Chibok girls (Oct 2016), then 82 more in May 2017.

Half of them -112 – have yet to be freed, says the Chairman of the Chibok Parents’ Association. Meantime at least a dozen of the Chibok parents have died, either themselves killed by Boko Haram, or by stress-related illness.

The most recent report (from Reuters in Oct 2018) referring to the missing 112 quoted a woman who had escaped from a Boko Haram camp in Cameroon. From near Chibok herself, she reported she’d been held with 6 of those girls, and that more than 50 of them were now held in two locations in N. Cameroon. But Cameroon intelligence sources told World Watch Monitor that this report appeared to be untrue.

Five years ago, a report showed how the Chibok girls’ kidnap appeared to be part of the Islamist group’s strategic approach to destroy the Christian community in N. Nigeria, where in some states, Christians still form a significant minority.

And now verified reports emerge that show that, while the Chibok girls were kidnapped and abused by a terrorist group, that incident is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’; many other teenagers in the same region are being abducted from their homes, abused physically and psychologically, forcibly converted to Islam, and frequently quickly married to older Muslim men – all with apparent impunity and lack of the rule of law.

The Hausa Christian Foundation has compiled a table (see below) of at least 12 girls (almost all under-age) who it has, after intensive negotiation, brought back to their families.

Here are a few of their stories:

13 year old Kaduna girl: kidnapped, converted, returned after 5 months

Christiana, 13, daughter of Jacob and Blessing Abimaje, was a Government Secondary School student whose family lived on the campus of the well-known Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna State [one of the top educational institutions in Africa]. In early 2017, her young brother had half his body burned in a fire; his parents spent almost two months in Zaria’s Shika Hospital.

One day in March, as Jacob was about to go to Samaru market to buy food to take to his wife in the hospital, a girl arrived, saying she was Christiana’s classmate. The father had no time to question her as he dashed off; but local Muslims had sent her to expedite Christiana’s disappearance.

When Jacob returned, he couldn’t find Christiana; she had been taken to the Hakeemi* of Bomo and kept there. After Jacob had searched for almost a week, the Hakeemi ordered him to come to his palace, where they brought out a girl dressed head to toe in Islamic dress: even her eyes were covered with a veil. The Hakeemi asked the girl to remove the veil; it was only then that her father recognized her. The Hakeemi told Jacob that Christiana, now a Muslim, would be staying with him, and denied Jacob’s request for her to return home.

Jacob and Blessing were in double agony: their son still in hospital, and now their daughter abducted and forcibly converted to Islam.

Blessing could not bear to stay in the hospital; so she came home – with her son – to fight for her daughter. She went to the Hakeemi, who warned her to stop coming to his palace. She went to the man in charge of the girl, a Mallam (Islamic scholar) on the staff of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Ahmadu Bello University, who also refused to give Christiana back.

Both parents found it very difficult to attend to their usual business; they were scared because the Hakeemi was involved. Despite the fact that he’d been sacked by the Kaduna state government, he kept causing trouble, and – since they are Igala, from southern Nigeria – they felt taking it to the police would make no difference. Indeed they feared they would be killed.

Blessing, however, kept going to visit Bomo for her daughter – to the point that whenever the locals there saw her, they laughed and mocked her. Once, when the Hakeemi saw her persistence, he said Christiana was too scared to return and might run away, so her parents should follow her gently. However, when the parents did ease off, Christiana’s captors went to court with an affidavit to change her name to Aisha Yakubu (Jacob) Suleiman.

This meant the Mallam, Suleiman, became her ‘legal’ father, with the right to decide anything for Christiana. She was then engaged to be married, even though she was still only 13.

Christiana was finally returned to her family after 5 months, on 29th July 2017, the week that she was due to be married to a Muslim. Her rescuers had to trek deep into the heart of Bomo town; the roads were too narrow for vehicles. Mallam Suleiman kept them waiting for about 30 minutes, while local men and women massed around her parents and their supporters. After the crowd had gathered, he then brought Christiana out. She was crying out loud that she would not follow her parents. All the women around her began to cry aloud as well, causing tension. Youths came from nowhere ranting “Nobody will force her to go, and nobody will arrest Mallam Suleiman with abusive language”.

The parents decided to go to speak to the Imam. While they were doing that, her captors asked Christiana to run away; as she ran, Mallam Suleiman ran after her. For more than an hour, the two refused to come back until her parents had left.

The captors eventually went to Samaru Police station, apparently anticipating things would go in their favour. The parents noticed that the ‘senior officer’ seemed to act very strangely: he blamed Christiana’s parents, and said what the Hakeemi did was the right thing. When the parents expressed their suspicions, they discovered that the policeman was not the ‘senior officer’ and was, in fact, more junior; it appeared that her captors had already connived with him to keep Christiana. When the real senior officer arrived, Christiana was finally handed over to her biological parents.

The Constitution of Nigeria says that a minor is in the custody of their biological parents, and no- one has the right to forcefully take them from those parents, even in the name of religion.

On 25^th December, 2019 Christiana will be exactly 16 years old.

(*‘Hakeemi’ – an honorific title in Hausa meaning ‘wise’ or ‘learned, given to an Islamic local ruler)

Aisha, 14, kidnapped to be second wife to 30 year old Muslim

On 25^th June, 2017, 14 year old Aisha Bala Mazadu left her home for nearby Sambirni to buy some medicine. On her way home, a 30-something Muslim married man, Bello Chiroma, kidnapped her with the support of his brother-in-law, the ‘King’ of Sambirni, Sarki Haruna and local Islamic clerics. Chiroma had earlier threatened to marry Aisha by force after her parents had told him to stop visiting her; now he took Aisha to the palace of the Hakeemi of Maigana, about 45 minutes’ drive away.

After four days, the Hakeemi sent for her parents to come to the palace. To their great shock, they saw Aisha in full Islamic dress. The Hakeemi told them he’d summoned them to let them know that their daughter was not ‘lost’, but now in good hands, that she was now a Muslim and would be married to her kidnapper the following Friday (6^th July). And that she would not be able to return to them, because, they said, ‘a Muslim cannot live with a Christian’, so she would be provided with Muslim parents to replace her ‘infidel’ biological parents.

The parents (who lived in Gidan Mato, Soba Local Government Area, Kaduna) and their pastor reported to the police the plan to have Aisha married, but the police – saying they could not act – told them they should take the case to the Local Government Chairman (who would be very difficult to access).

On 30^th June, Hausa Christian Foundation (HACFO) staff visited Sambirni to verify the facts. They found that the man was moving about freely, bragging that he’d done something commendable in Islam because Aisha was an ‘infidel’. Instead of punishing the kidnap* of a minor, the local ruler denied knowing what had happened, associating it with Islamic custom and practice.

Meanwhile, Aisha’s mother was in anguish, weeping night and day.

HACFO staff went back to Maigana on 3^rd July, 2017 for a day-long meeting with all involved from the Soba LGA: the Sole Administrator and his team, the Chairmen of both Christian and Muslim associations (CAN and the JNI), the Council of the Hakeemi’s palace, the police and others. At the end, they concluded that Aisha be brought to the police station.

Her captors went away for about 3 hours, but then returned without Aisha – on the grounds that it was late and if they returned Aisha to her parents, their people could turn violent. But they promised to give her back to her family by noon the next day (4 July).

On the 4^th, after another intense discussion, the Muslims brought Aisha, as if they would give her back, but the Hakeemi’s secretary, quoting the Sole Administrator, said they could not do so until after a security meeting (which the Sole Administrator had summoned for 5^th July).

Aisha’s family patiently waited, out of respect for authority. On the 5^th, the Muslims phoned around to find out who she was with (pretending that they would return her), but from 9am to 7pm refused to release her; the Sarki of Sambirni repeating that this would give rise to serious uproar from his people. Instead, Aisha’s captors said they would hand her over to the Social Welfare services for two weeks, after which they would check if she wished to return to her parents or remain with her captors.

The Department of State Services (DSS) and the Social Welfare Department then went to the boy’s village for a meeting with him and his parent. Then they called in Aisha’s parents – in her absence. According to the social services officials, they had been sent from local government to not give Aisha back; so they pleaded with the parents to allow Aisha to be married to her kidnapper. Her parents unwaveringly responded that they wanted Aisha back. (Meanwhile, the Social Welfare Department – where she was supposed to be staying securely – returned her to the JNI (the local Islamic religious leaders).

While the DSS and Social Welfare Department were meeting with Aisha’s parents, Chiroma, his parents and others left for the wedding. Aisha was brought too, to become his second wife.

When HACFO staff found out that Aisha had been married – despite all the promises – they petitioned the Kaduna State office of the National Human Rights Commission. Three days later, they had an interview there, and were directed to the State Police Commissioner. Finally, after all involved had met again for 8 hours at Police Command, Aisha was allowed to return to her parents.

15 year old studying to be a doctor abducted, abused, forcibly converted and married, now a mother

Matthew Dan Azumi & his wife were born into the Catholic community of the tribe of Kurama in Kaduna state. They had at least 3 children: Yohanna, Blessing and Kabiru: Kabiru converted to Islam.

In 2016, Blessing was kidnapped – with Kabiru’s connivance – and forcefully converted to Islam. Yohanna reported this to the police, with whose help, his sister returned after 21 days. Her kidnappers then came after her to kill her, claiming she’d committed apostasy (going back to her original Christian faith from Islam). In the face of many threats, Yohanna stood his ground and God saw the family through, unhurt, for 2yrs. However, Blessing’s kidnappers vowed to deal severely with Yohanna for being anti-Islam.

On 1 January 2018, Yohanna’s 15 year old daughter Jennifer was kidnapped from their home. Her parents heard that a local youth was responsible and so went to his house. In front of his parents he denied it. Yohanna reported it to the Divisional Police Station of Pambegua, and then, higher up, to Zaria Area Police Command. After 15 days, during which Jennifer was detained and abused, she was released back to her father on condition that he allow her to practise Islam.

When Jennifer – whose name had been changed to Zainab – returned to her parents, she was spiritually disturbed to the point of running mad; threatening jihad on her mother, because – she said – that was what her captors had asked her to do. Yohanna took her away to get local support. The night she went for rehab, a Muslim cleric from Zaria, Mallam Abdullahi Baba of JIBWIS*, mobilized more than 30 militants to storm Yohanna’s residence, shouting until around 2am through a public address system to return Jennifer, or face the consequences. When they discovered Jennifer was not home, they returned to Zaria.

Jennifer stayed away for local rehab for two weeks.

On 1^st February, after she returned, in the middle of the night, her Muslim uncle Kabiru connived with others to get her out again. Sleeping in her grandmother’s room in the family compound, Jennifer left through the window. Even when Yohanna found out where his daughter was and reported it again to the police, the authorities didn’t do anything.

Jennifer came home on 14^th June, 2018, now clearly pregnant. However, some Muslim women came and forced her back to her ‘husband’. When her mother Sarah – who was also (heavily) pregnant – heard that, she went to see her. When she entered where Jennifer was detained, she saw Jennifer – who was willing to follow her home! However, a crowd of youths came to prevent Jennifer leaving, and they beat up her pregnant mother. Yohanna rushed to the house to rescue his wife and daughter. The youths overpowered and beat him up as well, and forced Jennifer back into the house. Her parents had no option but to return home without her, the youths following them, throwing stones.

Some youths also had weapons; they threatened to kill Yohanna for touching his own (‘Muslim’) daughter and – as an infidel – for entering a Muslim’s house. When Yohanna’s father came to plead for calm, they beat him up too.

Yohanna then had to leave his own house to escape for his life with Sarah and other children.

Hausa Christians Foundation contacted the authorities and the Kaduna State Police helped to reunite Jennifer with her family in August 2018. She agreed to continue her studies, with a view to become a doctor. However, her captors had given her a phone with some numbers, and told her she could call them anytime. One day, in October 2018, her family think she disappeared through a gap in the fence, while the friend who was looking after her was sleeping, and she went back to her ‘husband’. Sometime after that, Jennifer phoned her parents and told them not to contact her again; they were heartbroken.[UPDATE 28/5/19] But Jennifer returned home again in mid-May 2019, in serious need of counselling and support – which local Christians are trying to provide.

*Salafi movement originally set up in N. Nigeria to fight ‘innovations’ practised by Sufi brotherhoods. It has links to Wahhabism, and is said to be influential at local, state and even Federal levels.

19 year old Christian student held against her will for 2 months

Alheri Garba, 19, a Christian woman from Bakori attended the Federal College of Education, in Zaria, Katsina State. She was on her way home for a mid-term break when an unknown Muslim man kidnapped her and kept her in his house in Zaria (as Alheri reported later). She was with him for more than two months. When her number was called, he answered but refused to allow her to speak, or to disclose where he was keeping her. He finally switched off her number, but used another number to taunt her family and supporters.

A formal report was submitted to the Authority of the Federal College of Education, Zaria Area Command of the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of Social Services, the Divisional Police Office of Zaria LGA, but no-one showed any concern or acted on it, perhaps because Alheri was an adult in Nigerian law.

After Alheri returned to her family, her HACFO rescuers said she’d been held in the cruellest form of captivity they had ever seen in: “He brought her out in a really terrible condition…her head was shaved, and we think he dumped her in a street – lifeless – as he thought she would die…She doesn’t know where she is, she has completely lost her senses. She could not even stand on her own feet. There is no form of abuse that she has not been subjected to…This man almost killed Alheri. She has been under intensive medical care and a total rehabilitation program ever since she was released.”

Christian girls abducted, forcibly converted and married in N. Nigeria June 2017 - Aug 2018.xlsx

Some of these stories feature in a brand-new report about gender–specific persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

The accounts of the treatment of Nigerian girls parallels that of Coptic Christian girls in Egypt, which featured in an earlier report of gender-specific persecution on that country. Here, an ex-kidnapper admitted ‘they get paid for every Coptic Christian girl they bring in’.

‘G’, an Egyptian, admitted he was in a network actively targeting Coptic girls for years before he left Islam; he says that the kidnapping of such girls is now at an all-time high in Egypt. “Salafist networks began in the seventies and it’s reached its highest levels now, in the era of President Sisi… A group of kidnappers meets in a mosque to discuss potential victims. They keep a close eye on Christians’ houses and monitor everything that’s going on. On that basis, they weave a spider’s web around [the girls],” he says.

Other countries which have featured in the series of gender-specific reports produced by the World Watch Research unit of Open Doors International, a global charity which monitors persecution of Christians include the Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia and Iraq.