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
And she added:

N

There are no chibok girls

Some girls named chibok girls must be found.

If they don't exist, create them.

jonah until baba is able to bring our girls back we will never forget how reluctant u where when our gals got missing

Chibok girls is a scam... the number of rescued girls have surpassed the number of abducted girls yet many of them are still in boko harams hand...who is fooling who?