Woman kidnapped by Boko Haram speaks out

  • 25/12/2015
Woman kidnapped by Boko Haram speaks out

A new report says the terror group Boko Haram, which is linked with Islamic State (IS), has killed more than 1000 people in the past two months alone.

Based in Nigeria, the group is also responsible for thousands of abductions, particularly of young women.

One woman says she has been freed from captivity, but her ordeal is far from over.

Aisha Musa has been living in the crowded Minawao refugee camp for seven months. She survives by selling cornmeal at the local market.

Ms Musa was kidnapped by Boko Haram militants. They killed her family and forced her at gunpoint to become a jihadi bride.

"They show you a gun," she says. "And then whatever they say you have to follow their command."

She says her captor would lock her in during the day. At night, he would rape her.

"He would go for operations and kill people, and then come home and force me to be with him."

Ms Musa was rescued by the Cameroon military. But the worst of her ordeal was finding out she was pregnant by her rapist.

"I am not enjoying that I have a baby from a Boko Haram man," she says.

But she is resigned and there are moments of tenderness.

Her story is not unusual; Boko Haram has captured hundreds of girls. The most infamous kidnapping was the 200 Chibok schoolgirls taken more than 18 months ago.

Ms Musa never saw the Chibok girls but often heard the fighters speak of them. Like many of the other girls, they too were forced to marry the fighters.

In a double injustice, many are now stigmatised by their community. Girls like Ms Musa are regarded as spoiled goods – her baby a very public reminder of a cruel and unfair shame. 

Watch the video for the full CBS News report.