A Chibok girl, by name Lydia Joshua, one of the 276 abducted at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state, on April 14, 2014, has disclosed in a new story about her time in the hands of Boko Haram and according to her, she only drank water only when it rained.
Lydia was among the abductees that were released through a negotiation with the Boko Haram sect in the year 2017. She is now trying to acclimatize to life outside the Boko Haram camp. She shared her ordeal and the plight of those who are yet to be free from their camp.
The Cable reports that though Lydia Joshua couldn’t speak freely due to certain governmental restrictions, her parents and loved ones were delightful to tell people what she had told them while she was abducted.
Matina Butu, the victim’s aunt said what Lydia passed through while she was in captivity.
“The girls suffered, especially the ones who refused to marry Boko Haram. The Boko Haram people would ask the girls to raise their hands if they wanted to marry any of the men. The girls who did not express interest were starved,” said Butu who left Borno for Lagos as a result of Boko Haram activities.
“When it rained, they would be drenched and their clothes would dry up on their bodies. It is also when it rains that they get to drink water. Lydia told her stories of sleeping beside snakes, going several days without food and sewing clothes with what she described as hand needles.“They slept on flooded floors for three years. It’s only God that kept Lydia alive and I am still shocked. Lydia told me they ate leaves and when they gave them food, it was never enough until the negotiations for their release started taking place and they started giving them food.”Butu also spoke about the trauma the family went through when Lydia wasn’t around and the effect of insurgency that has been done on her family.She is just 26 years old, five years older than her niece, Butu is widow with three children. She also revealed how the insurgents killed her spouse.“Our village is empty. Nobody is there, people have gone to different places. They also took our farms so that we cannot feed any longer,” she said. “They (Boko Haram) are leaving widows of women. They will come to your house and kill your husband and leave you alone to take care of the children. They killed my husband and I am left alone with three children take care of.”She revealed that Lydia’s grandfather died suddenly in 2014 because he was traumatised deeply.
