Clutching unto a week-old baby
boy, a teenager, simply identified
as Hajara, was lost in thought as
she spoke repeatedly to herself
while ignoring the screams from
the baby, which turned out to be hers. Nearby women who rebuked
her were asked to come and carry
the child and leave her alone.
Hajara is one of the Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs)
temporarily kept in a camp in Maiduguri town. An orphan, who
lost both parents in one of the
attacks by the Boko Haram sect,
gave birth to a baby boy a week
ago and is yet to adjust into her
reality of motherhood. Hajara, like so many other girls,
was four months pregnant before
she was rescued. “I am sad
because I do not know who owns
this baby. I have told them to carry
this child so that I can have my life back but they said that I must
breastfeed him for six months. The
elders in the camp said that they
are looking for a rich old man that
can marry me alongside with the
baby. This is not my dream but I thank Allah for keeping me alive
this day as so many girls were
raped to death by Boko Haram
members. Please, take him away
from me if you can,” Hajara called
out to visitors who came to the camp to celebrate the New Year
with the IDPs.
Saturday Sun learnt that one of the
major challenges of the various IDP
camps visited is that of children
born out of wedlock, and is happening at an alarming rate.
Unlike Hajara, who got to the camp
pregnant, Fati,16, conceived while
in the camp. She lamented that it
was her quest to make do of an
available man in the camp that landed her in trouble.
Speaking fluently in English, Fati
said: “I lost both parents when
they attacked our village in Bama. I
was able to run away with my little
brother before they packed the other girls and left. We trekked
through the bush till we got to
Maiduguri.
“I was admitted into the camp a
year ago and since I do not have
parents, I and my brother were attached to another family in a
tent. There are so many girls in the
camp and few men. The family I
was living with advised me to find
a man for myself that will marry
me because Boko Haram had killed so many boys. I was only 16 and
the competition was too much.
“I later got Sani but I never knew
that he had so many women on
the line. I refused to have sex with
him initially but he threatened that he would leave me for another
woman. This was why I started
having sex with him. He promised
to marry me as soon as we get out
of the camp. He was not happy
when he discovered that I was pregnant. He simply asked me to
get out of his sight and go and find
a husband for myself. I thank God
for men of NEMA who have assisted
us, I wish they will take the baby
so that I will have an opportunity to go to school. I am an orphan
and do not have anyone to assist
me in life.”
Zara’s tale is also similar to that
of Fati but the difference is that the
baby in her arms belongs to a 70- year-old-man who is in the camp.
At 17, she was advised to become
the fourth wife of the old man
since her entire family was wiped
out by the insurgents. “I was left
with no choice but to marry Alhaji. I was even lucky that he has only
three wives. This is not the life I
dreamed of, but I pray that when
we get back to Adamawa, we will
be able to have a normal life. I
hope he will allow me to go back to school because I want to become a
teacher,” Zara said.
Not left out were some of the
parents who spoke with Saturday
Sun. They raised alarm that the
various camps have turned into breeding ground as the teenager
whose hormones are very active
can no longer control their urge.
According Mohammed, his greatest
worry is how to find a husband for
his daughter. “I am grateful to God that I made it alive. I am
married to four wives and would
have taken more if my religion
accepts it. My greatest concern is
three of my daughters who are of
age. Men are difficult to come by and the ones in the camp are full of
deceit. Once in a while families will
come from the city to pick wives
for their children but my daughters
are not lucky yet. The camp has
turned into a brothel and the little girls you see around are all into it.
They have lost control and I wish
that government will help us to
keep them busy. We are simply
praying to Allah (God) to help us so
that we can return to our various homes.”
Another parent, Mrs. Halima called
on government to quickly end the
reign of terror so that they can go
back home. “It is bad over here.
The elderly men are also guilty of getting our daughters pregnant. In
fact, they are worse than the
younger ones. Some of them have
access to money and normally use
it to woo these innocent girls. I can
tell you that most of the pregnant women you see around here
conceived while in this camp. Rape
cases here is also high, it’s just
that we prefer not to talk about it.
The victims are mostly girls whose
parents are not in the camp to protect them.”
Also 40-year-old Aishatu, who is
eight months pregnant, lamented
that by the time she was rescued
by the military, she was already six
months pregnant. “It was a horrible experience and we were at
the mercy of the insurgents who
took turns to sleep with the
women in the captivity. You do not
have access to drugs, especially
when they discover that you are pregnant. I am simply counting my
days and will donate this child to
an orphanage so that he would be
adopted by a childless family.
“I am satisfied with the seven
children that God gave me through my husband before he was
beheaded by the sect. At least five
of them survived the attack and
are safe.”
On the rate of birth, a midwife,
Fatima, who spoke to Saturday Sun, explained that several girls in
the camp are pregnant and
remains unmarried. “They are
idle so it is natural that most of
them seek pleasure among
themselves. All we need is counsellors because the rate of
pregnancies is very in most of the
camps that I have visited. They
even gave them condom free of
charge but every month we will
get a new case of pregnant woman especially the under aged.”
“Meanwhile, one would expect
that people would flood here
seeking for children to adopt. Their
excuse is that most the newborn
babies belong to Boko Haram members. This is the major
challenge that we have today and
most of these girls are willing to
give out their child. This was why it
was rumoured that they were
selling children in IDP camps. The truth is that some of them need to
be taken to better homes where
they will be well taken care of.”
While at the camp, Red Cross
official, who was also spoke with
Saturday Sun, confirmed the high degree of sexual activity going on
in the camps, and warned that
there might be epidemic of
sexually transmitted disease, if
nothing is done to control
unprotected sex in the camp. “We have been lucky so far that
HIV has not ravaged our various
camps. Those that tested positive
were completely isolated from the
camps. We are doing our best
within the resources at our disposal to help these Nigerians
who are displaced as a result of the
activities of Boko Haram. There is
need to actively engage them to
distract their attention form sex.
The rate is high and if they are kept here for the next one year,
there will be an explosion of babies
in the various camps.”
On rumours that some babies are
being sold, the official said that it
could be true but without the knowledge of government officials.
Meanwhile, NEMA reportedly
confirmed that more than 410
babies were born in a space of two
months in camps in North-East.
“Over 410 births were recorded between August and September in
the camps in Borno and Adamawa
states, said the head of NEMA,
Muhammad Sani Sidi. In the same
period, there were 187 marriages
-100 in camps in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri and 87 in
neighbouring Adamawa, he added
in a statement.
According to the report, in recent
months, IDPs camps have
accommodated hundreds of women and children kidnapped by
the insurgents and rescued by the
military during its counter-
offensive against the Islamist.
NEMA’s Sidi, however, made no
reference as to whether the births in September and October were
from women kidnapped by Boko
Haram and forced into marriage
with the Islamist fighters.
“We just help them deliver,”
NEMA spokesman, Manzo Ezekiel reportedly said from Maiduguri.


www.sunnewsonline.com/new/idp-camps-turned-into-sex-communes-as-displaced-persons-have-unrestricted-access-to-one-another/

Oh my Gawd!

Damn

Where are the men that marry another wife to save widows and orphans. What are they doing about this. There is no time to waste it's time to help these women.

andromida:
Where are the men that marry another wife to save widows and orphans. What are they doing about this. There is no time to waste it's time to help these women.

The fact is that no sensible man will agree to marry a lady/woman already messed up by boko boys.

dioss:



The fact is that no sensible man will agree to marry a lady/woman already messed up by boko boys.

because she dreamed to be raped ,wished to be raped or have a messed up life with a child she didn't plan for or have the resources to take care of

dioss:



The fact is that no sensible man will agree to marry a lady/woman already messed up by boko boys.

because she dreamed to be raped or asked the bokoharam boys to rape her

Hypocrites everywhere.

They don't really need marriage, what they need is counselling and a better environment for those kids to avoid stigmatization.

Not all of them were raped,many of them had sex with men at the age of 16.That place is in dire need of counsellors for these young ladies.

This is serious. Maybe they should put them in separate camps. Like male and female camps or so!

we were at the mercy of the insurgents who took turns to sleep with the women in the captivity. You do not have access to drugs, especially when they discover that you are pregnant. I am simply counting my days and will donate this child to an orphanage so that he would be
adopted by a childless family. “I am satisfied with the seven children that God gave me through my husband before he was beheaded by the sect. At least five of them survived the attack and are safe.”

Jesus Christ.

dioss:



The fact is that no sensible man will agree to marry a lady/woman already messed up by boko boys.

the govt should look into this and find husbands for these women.

itstpia8:


the govt should look into this and find husbands for these women.

I agree witth you.

dioss:



I agree witth you.

yes, they should get working on it.

give them a dowry or something, and find men who are ok with marrying them.

Terrible!!! They should separate them.