More than 50 of the girls abducted by terrorist group Boko Haram in Chibok,Borno State, a year ago, were seen alive three weeks ago, a woman has told the BBC.
According to the woman whose name was not published by the British online news platform, the girls were seen in Gwoza before the Boko Haram militants were dislodged by the Nigerian military, backed by forces from neighbouring countries.
The Islamist sect was believed to have made Gwoza its headquarters after it captured the town in August 2014.
The woman, who lived under Boko Haram’s rule in Gwoza, told the BBC that she saw the girls in Islamic attire, being escorted by the militants.
“They said they were Chibok girls kept in a big house,” said the woman,who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.“We just happened to be on the same road with them,” she added.
She was not the only one who saw the girls, three other women also told the BBC they had seen the girls in Gwoza. One said she last saw some of the girls in November at a Boko Haram camp in Bita village, also in the north-east.
“About a week after they were brought to the camp, one of us peeked through a window and asked:‘Are you really the Chibok girls?’ and they said: ‘Yes’. We believed them and didn’t ask them again,” the woman said.
“They took Koranic lessons, cleaned their compound, cooked for themselves and they braided each others’ hair. They were treated differently – their food [was] better and water clean.”
One of the things regarded as the failings of Nigeria’s outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan was not doing enough to end the six-year insurgency in the north-east.
He was also criticized for not securing the freedom of the girls.Incoming President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to “crush” the insurgents.
He also promised to do everything in his power to ensure thegirls are rescued, although he said there was no guarantee.
Insecurity in the country was one of the top issues on his agenda following his campaign which was largely about ending insecurity and corruption in Nigeria.
The people of the country will be be hoping on his administration’s efforts, for an end toinsurgency by Boko Haram which has claimed more than 15,000 lives inthe past six years. He is due to be inaugurated on 29 May.
