, a town in Yobe State and abducted over 100 pupils from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Amina Yusuf , still hears the insurgents screaming Allahu Akbar, Arabic for “God is great” as they shot sporadically into the air, as if it is happening at the moment.
Boko Haram opposes Western education, which is why schools like the one in Chibok, Dapchi and Buni Yadi in Nigeria’s North-east region were brutally attacked. The terrorists also attacked places of worship, markets, government buildings, offices of security agencies, motor parks and other places.The Abduction
The insurgents wore military uniforms with turbans on their heads, she said. They rode in “small vehicles” and trucks and when they caught up with the fleeing pupils, they surrounded them and asked them to enter one of the trucks if they wanted to be protected.With little or no option, the terrified pupils hopped into the truck. Ms Yusuf said she knew they were not soldiers the moment she jumped into the truck. She was one of those who jumped into the truck voluntarily while others hesitated.
But she didn’t eat anything given to them because she remembered hearing that after the Chibok abduction, the pupils who ate the meal offered by their abductors never returned. She said they were driven to a hideout close to Lake Chad. Later some of the pupils started begging the insurgents to return them to their school but with every plea, the insurgents told them to calm down and continue obeying them.Deep into their journey, they stopped by a “huge” tree and rested. They continued the journey for some hours. They stopped and ate. That was when Ms Yusuf finally succumbed and ate. She could no longer bear the raging hunger tormenting her.
All 105 pupils were kept in a makeshift tent covered with camouflage tarpaulin in a dense forest where they could barely see the sky. When the jets withdrew, the pupils launched into another round of cries of anguish. Ms Yusuf said she thought that was the end. “They said they know us so we must not go back to school. They said we should just go and get married and stop wasting our time going to Western school. That night, we sang and danced throughout the night. In the morning, they took us on a journey back to Dapchi,” Ms Yusuf said with a smile.