A Nigerian
teenager held captive by ruthless Islamist group Boko Haram has told
for the first time how a sympathetic member of the terrorist group who
spoke her local language helped her escape.
Amina
Tsawur, 17, who was kidnapped alongside hundreds of classmates, has
revealed how she managed to trick her captors and escape through
snake-infested undergrowth in northern Nigeria.
She
said a member Boko Haram, led by Abubakar Shekau, dubbed the Beast of
Boko Haram, told her to ask to be moved away from the other hostages so
she could relieve herself.
Schoolgirls Aminar Tsawur, right,
and Martha, left, being reunited with their family after being
kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorists from their school in Chibok,
Nigeria
She
followed his instructions, then ran through the jungle and reached a
highway where a passing motorist drove her to a nearby town.
She
revealed that during her ordeal her kidnappers taunted and insulted
their captives, and threatened to kill them and their teachers.
Describing
the moment of her capture, she said: ‘It was about llpm and we were
very scared to hear shooting. We didn’t know what to do or where to run.
‘After some time we started seeing men in soldiers’ uniforms coming in the school by torchlight.
'We thought they were soldiers. They said they had been sent to evacuate us so we would not be harmed.
‘We
followed them outside and they got us into a lorry. When they shouted
‘Allahu Akhbar’ [God is great], we knew they were Boko Haram.
‘We all started crying and begging for help, but they ordered us to keep shut or they would kill us.
‘They
took us into the bush and we drove all night and in the morning too,
until we arrived at a place where they asked some of us to cook, others
to wash dishes, some to grind corn and other chores.
‘They
kept insulting us and saying that we must stop going to school, that
they were going to marry all of us to their people; that our teachers
and government are unbelievers whom they would all kill.’
After her escape, Amina eventually
reached Damboa, a market town on the edge of the jungle, 50 miles from
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. In total, 50 girls are believed
to have fled after the kidnapping on April 14.
Daily Mail
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