A widow from Gwoza, Borno state, narrated how Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had invaded the town last year declaring himself the “Amir of Gwoza”.
Balaraba Aliyu Abacha described to Daily Trust on May 30, Sunday, how the sect had invaded her home in August 2014 and forced the occupants to leave the compound, saying the new “Amir’’ would soon occupy it.
They warned Balaraba against returning to the house adding that whoever misbehaved would be taken to Sambisa Forest.
The woman said that Shekau and his armed men had stormed their compound with a convoy of at least 50 cars.
Shocked Balaraba went to her father’s home, where she fainted and spent four days in a coma. She further narrated how her husband, who later came into the house to see her, was escaping from the militants as they searched for males.
“My husband attempted to scale over the fence of the house to safety when he fell and had a fracture on his leg.”
Despite attempts to save her spouse’s life, the insurgents shot him dead on August 9, 2014.
The fighters also threatened to kill Balaraba’s aged mother when she requested white cloth to cover the bodies of the deceased.
Left alone with a 14-year-old daughter and an elderly mother, the woman had to run away from Gwoza, for Madagali, Adamawa state, where they spent four days.
Balaraba and her family moved to several places after that. Their lives were in danger in all of them. In Damaturu, Yobe state, affected by mass kidnappings of females, she suggested going to Kaduna, to her sister’s place.
Balaraba disclosed that after Muhammadu Buhari’s victory many displaced people returned to their former camps hoping for infrastructure rebuilding.
She lamented that the militants had destroyed most parts of Gwoza town before the troops flushed them out.
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