A rescued victim of the February 3 terrorist attack on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, Amirah Salihu, has opened up about the harsh conditions she and other captives faced during nearly six months in captivity.
Salihu, a nurse and daughter of Woro community chief Umar Salihu, said she delivered 10 babies with her bare hands while in captivity. She disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.
She said the captives were poorly fed and often slept in the open, including near a river, despite heavy rain.
“The kind of food that they were giving us was bad. The day that we got there, they just dropped guinea corn for us with salt and Maggi. Every day after, they gave us one bag of corn without oil, pepper, nothing. There was a day that they didn’t even give us Maggi again, just salt,” she said.
Salihu said the abductors sometimes provided kuka, but later stopped.
“And they kept us inside river. The place that we sleep is inside river. And rain always used to fall, sometimes. If we set fire, they asked us to put off the fire,” she added.
She also assisted pregnant captives during childbirth after the abductors asked if there was a nurse among them.
“I helped like 10 women for the delivery, without gloves. I used my hands to help them,” she said.
The terrorists later wanted her to stay because of her nursing skills, but she refused.
“But at last, when they got to know, they wanted to keep me, that I should stay with them, but I said no. I want to come back,” she said.
Salihu said the attackers claimed they were working for Allah and wanted the community to follow the Quran instead of democracy and the constitution.
“They even killed my brothers—my senior brother and my junior brother. And those… they said it’s because of my dad, because my dad did not allow them to come to our village,” she said.
She said her father had resisted the terrorists and brought soldiers to protect the village, but the attackers came after the soldiers had left.
Salihu said there was no rape or sexual assault during the captivity.
“No, no case of rape or sexual assault, no,” she said.
The victims were among 176 women and children abducted during the attack. They regained freedom on Wednesday after nearly six months.
The Kwara State Government said 13 children died in captivity, while 12 others remained behind.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq received the rescued victims in Ilorin on Friday and commiserated with the families of those who died. He thanked President Bola Tinubu and the military hierarchy for their roles in the rescue.
He later visited a general hospital where 14 sick victims, including three women who gave birth in captivity, were receiving treatment.
