A survivor of Boko Haram captivity, Fayina Akilawus, has recounted the harrowing conditions she endured in the insurgents’ camp, alleging that she and other Christian captives were forced into servitude after refusing to renounce their faith.
Akilawus told Arise News that Boko Haram fighters repeatedly attempted to compel her and fellow captives to convert to Islam, subjecting those who declined to hard labour and domestic servitude.
She said she spent four years in the terrorists’ enclave before successfully fleeing on her fifth attempt, with assistance from a Fulani woman who sells drinks to the group.
“They wanted us to convert to Islam and we said no, we will not convert,” she told Arise News.
“It is their own law that if you do not convert to Islam, you become a slave.”
Explaining the conditions imposed on those labelled as slaves, Akilawus said they were compelled to perform menial tasks and provide domestic services for the fighters.
“Yeah, because one, I’m a Christian, and they just want us to be Muslims and if we don’t want to convert to Islam, we’ll be slaves.
“And if we don’t convert, we’ll still be Christians but we’ll be their slave to do some house chores and other things for them. We’re carrying wood, fetching water and all that.
“They normally come to our place and preach, they’ll preach for us. They’re preaching for us that they want us to become a better people in life and all that, by joining their religion.
“We refused for nine months before they started separating us. Then they will separate each and every one of us to go to their oga houses to become their slaves there.”
Akilawus also described an early, failed escape attempt shortly after their arrival at the camp, saying she and another captive tried to flee under the cover of darkness.
“The night when we arrived [their camp] on Saturday night, around seven o’clock, me and Aunty [Jumat] tried to escape.
So we escaped that very day, throughout the night, around 7pm we walked throughout the night till morning. But when we heard a baby’s cry, we thought it was these Fulani cattle rearers.
“We never knew that they have a family, including children within them. So we now heard the baby’s voice. We just said Salamalekun and entered inside.
“When we entered inside, the people now came out and saw us and started shouting, because their way of dressing and ours is different. So they were shouting, ‘who are those people?’”
Her account adds to growing testimonies by former captives detailing forced conversions, abuse and exploitation in Boko Haram-controlled territories, underscoring the humanitarian toll of the insurgency in the North-East.