Nadia's Story

by Iyawo Alaba.

1: ABDUCTED[b][/b]

Nadia picked herself up from the dirt floor, the man who pushed five of them into the mud hut was still at the door looking lustfully and leering at them. “Make yourselves at home” he said mockingly in Hausa, “I will be back”. The door was slammed shut. Everyone was immobilized with fear and you could hear a pin drop! Nadia quickly swept her eyes over her body again; thankfully, she didn’t have any major injury from the rough way the man had handled them.
A few others were not so lucky. The only familiar person to Nadia in the room was Zulpha, they were from the same village – Yakshari in Kano state. The terrorists had slit the throats of about 22 men, Nadia’s brother inclusive before carting away their livestock and stored grain. If only that was all they carted away, Nadia thought, but they had also taken captive about twenty girls from the village.

The thought of her poor mother all alone without food or even their animals to sell for money brought tears to Nadia’s eyes. She brushed the tears away and spoke to herself as she was fond of doing saying,
“Nadia, this is not the time to cry! You must pull yourself together, stay calm and find a way out of this prison. That’s the only way you’ll see mama again”.
Almost all the girls had given in to their fears and were crying profusely by now.

Nadia walked across the room to Zulpha. The poor girl was in pieces. A huge wave of sadness came upon Nadia. Zulpha was just 12 years old, three years younger than Nadia. She had never been a strong child; rather she was fragile and soft spoken. Nadia wondered how she would flair in this horrible situation they found themselves. She resolved again to be strong, not only for herself but for Zulpha too. Nadia stooped and touched her shoulders.

Zulpha lifted her head and Nadia saw it darken with recognition and some relief at finding a familiar face but that wasn’t all that her eyes reflected. Zulpha’s eyes reflected her terror, fear and anguish. It reflected the knowledge that her dream of becoming a nurse would never materialize. It was not a secret that the terrorists hated western education, besides, the horrible stories of what happens to abducted girls in their camps was not a secret either. A new fear gripped Nadia’s heart because she knew Zulpha was giving up on life without a fight. She held on tightly to her hand, telling her everything would be alright.
“What do you think they have done with Laila and the others?” Zulpha asked her.
“I don’t know” Nadia replied “but ‘am sure they are okay wherever they are” she added.

Zulpha smiled sadly and lowered her eyes. There was no fight left in her.