Some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in
Nigeria have been forced to join Islamist militant
group Boko Haram, the BBC has been told.
Witnesses say some are now being used to terrorise
other captives, and are even carrying out killings
themselves.
The testimony cannot be verified but Amnesty
International says other girls kidnapped by Boko Haram
have been forced to fight.
Boko Haram has killed some 5,500 civilians in Nigeria
since 2013.
Two-hundred-and-nineteen schoolgirls from Chibok, are
still missing, more than a year after they were kidnapped
from their school in northern Nigeria. Many of those
seized are Christians.
Three women who claim they were held in the same
camps as some of the Chibok girls have told the BBC's
Panorama programme that some of them have been
brainwashed and are now carrying out punishments on
behalf of the militants.
Seventeen-year-old Miriam (not her real name) fled Boko
Haram after being held for six months. She was forced to
marry a militant, and is now pregnant with his child.
Recounting her first days in the camp she said: "They
told to us get ready, that they were going to marry us
off."
She and four others refused.
Human cost of Boko Haram
219 of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok by
Boko Haram in April 2014 are still missing.
They are among at least 2,000 women and girls
abducted by Boko Haram since the start of 2014
(Amnesty figures)
Since the start of 2013 Boko Haram has killed an
estimated 5,500 civilians in north-east Nigeria (Amnesty
figures)
Who are Boko Haram?
Chibok: What we know a year on
Why Boko Haram remains a threat
"They came back with four men, they slit their throats in
front of us. They then said that this will happen to any
girl that refuses to get married,"
Faced with that choice, she agreed to marry, and was
then repeatedly raped.
"There was so much pain," she said. "I was only there in
body… I couldn't do anything about it."
While in captivity, Miriam described meeting some of the
Chibok schoolgirls. She said they were kept in a separate
house to the other captives.
"They told us: 'You women should learn from your
husbands because they are giving their blood for the
cause. We must also go to war for Allah.'"
She said the girls had been "brainwashed" and that she
had witnessed some of them kill several men in her
village.
"They were Christian men. They [the Boko Haram
fighters] forced the Christians to lie down. Then the girls
cut their throats."
It is not possible to independently verify Miriam's claims.
But human rights group Amnesty International said their
research also shows that some girls abducted by Boko
Haram have been trained to fight.
"The abduction and brutalisation of young women and
girls seems to be part of the modus operandi of Boko
Haram," said Netsanet Belay, Africa director, research
and advocacy at Amnesty International.
'They had guns'
The Chibok schoolgirls have not been seen since last
May when Boko Haram released a video of around 130 of
them gathered together reciting the Koran. They
looked terrified.
Amnesty International estimates more than 2,000 girls
have been taken since the start of 2014. But it was the
attack on the school in Chibok that sparked international
outrage.
Michelle Obama made a rousing speech a few weeks
after their abduction, demanding the girls' return.
Millions of people showed their support for the #
bringbackourgirls campaign. The hashtag was shared
more than five million times.
Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamic State
in the region, but it has recently been pushed back by a
military force from Nigeria and its neighbours. Hundreds
of women and girls have managed to escape during
these raids.
Anna, aged 60, is one of them. She fled a camp in the
Sambisa forest in December where she was held for five
months. She now sits beneath a tree close to the
cathedral in the Adamawa state capital of Yola. Her only
possessions are the clothes she ran away in.
She said she saw some of the Chibok schoolgirls just
before she fled the forest.
"They had guns," she said.
When pressed on how she could be sure that it is was
the Chibok schoolgirls that she'd seen, Anna said: "They
[Boko Haram] didn't hide them. They told us: 'These are
your teachers from Chibok.'
"They shared the girls out as teachers to teach different
groups of women and girls to recite the Koran," Anna
recalled.
"Young girls who couldn't recite were being flogged by
the Chibok girls."
Like Miriam, Anna also said she had seen some of the
Chibok schoolgirls commit murder.
Conversion attempt
"People were tied and laid down and the girls took it
from there… The Chibok girls slit their throats," said
Anna.
Anna said she felt no malice towards the girls she had
seen taking part in the violence, only pity.
"It's not their fault they were forced to do it." she added.
"Anyone who sees the Chibok girls has to feel sorry for
them."
Exposing women to extreme violence seemed to be a
strategy used by Boko Haram to strip them of their
identity and humanity, so they could be forced to accept
the militants' ideology.
Faith (not her real name) aged 16, who is Christian,
described how Boko Haram fighters tried to force her to
convert to their version of Islam.
"Every day at dawn they would come and throw water
over us and order us to wake up and start praying."
"Then one day they brought in a man wearing uniform.
They made us all line up and then said to me: 'Because
you are always crying, you will must kill this man.'
"I was given the knife and ordered to cut his neck. I said I
couldn't do it.
"They cut his throat in front of me. That's when I passed
out."
Faith said she had seen at least one Chibok schoolgirl
who had been married off to a Boko Haram militant
during her four months in captivity.
"She was just like any of the Boko Haram wives," she
explained. "We are more scared of the wives than the
husbands."
Long road to recovery
With hundreds of women and children recently rescued
from Boko Haram strongholds in the Sambisa forest, the
Nigerian government has set up a programme to help
escapees.
Many fled captivity, only to discover that some or all of
their family members had been killed by Boko Haram.
Others have been cast out from their communities, who
now consider them "Boko Haram wives".
Dr Fatima Akilu is in charge of Nigeria's counter-violence
and extremism programme. She is currently looking after
around 300 of the recently rescued women and children.
"We have not seen signs of radicalisation," she told us.
"But if it did occur we would not be surprised."
And she added: "In situations where people have been
held, there have been lots of stories where they have
identified with their captors."
Dr Akilu said beatings, torture, rape, forced marriages
and pregnancies were common in Boko Haram camps.
"We have a team of imams… that are trained to look out
for radical ideas and ideology.
"Recovery is going to be slow, it's going to be long… It's
going to be bumpy."
As the hunt for the Chibok schoolgirls continues, and
questions are raised about what state they will be in if
they ever return home, those who have managed to
escape are beginning the mammoth task of coming to
terms with their experiences.
"I can't get the images out of my head," said Anna,
breaking down in tears. "I see people being slaughtered.
I just pray that the nightmares don't return."
For others, the nightmare is continuing every day.
Miriam is expecting her baby any day now.
"I hope that the baby is a girl," she said. "I would love
her more than any boy. I'm scared of having a boy."
Miriam's future is bleak. She is terrified her "husband"
will find her and kill her for running away. Her
community has also rejected her.
"People consider me an outcast," she said.
"They remind me that I have Boko Haram inside me."
www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33259003?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

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