Saturday, January 17, 2015

Boko Haram fanatics abducted '500 women and children' after massacring 2,500 in one town

Boko Haram fanatics abducted '500 women and children' after massacring 2,500 in one town

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2913338/Boko-Haram-fanatics-abducted-500-women-children-brutal-town-attack-says-eyewitness.html

  • Survivor tells of horror in Baga after assault by Islamist terror group 
  • More than '500 women and children' kidnapped by militants
  • Some have been released, but younger women remain captive
  • Comes after satellite images showed destruction of towns by terror group
  • Showed that 3,700 buildings including homes and schools were destroyed 
  • One witness says terrorists shot and killed a woman who was in labour
  • Nigerian President makes surprise visit to Boko Haram heartland
  • Goodluck Jonathan promised to tackle reign of terror 
  • Told people displaced by attack they would be able to return home 

Islamist terror group Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of women and children at a school following a massive attack on the town of Baga earlier this month, according to an eyewitness.

Kaltuma Wari, who was released by the fanatics earlier this week, claimed in a phone call that 'there were over 500 women and hundreds of children' held by the militants.

While some were released after four days, hundreds of others - mainly young women - were still in the hands of the bloodthirsty murderers with no immediate news of their condition available. 

The terror group shocked the world last year when its fighters kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from a boarding school in the town of Chibok, in Nigeria's north-east. Dozens escaped, but 219 remain missing.

Their disappearance prompted a social media campaign with #bringbackourgirls, which was supported by Michelle Obama, First Lady of the USA. 

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Innocent victims: Kidnapped schoolgirls are seen at an unknown location in this image taken from a video released by Boko Haram. The girls went missing in April 2014.
Innocent victims: Kidnapped schoolgirls are seen at an unknown location in this image taken from a video released by Boko Haram. The girls went missing in April 2014.
Support: Michelle Obama backed the #bringbackourgirls campaign after the kidnap by Boko Haram
Support: Michelle Obama backed the #bringbackourgirls campaign after the kidnap by Boko Haram

Wari, 40, said Boko Haram fighters took her to a girls' boarding school in Baga after she went into the streets to look for her husband and six of her nine children.

The women and children were kept in dormitories, classrooms and in the open, despite the cold weather caused by the seasonal winds, she said.

She added: 'They didn't touch any woman but they paid more attention to young women. They kept watch on them and they were always accompanied by gunmen wherever they went, even to the bathroom.'

During her time at the school, Wari was forced to cook for the militants. 

Many of the women refused to eat out of worry for their loved ones, and she added: 'Some of us turned hysterical and I was one of them. 

'They got fed up with us and (on Wednesday) around 2pm (1300 GMT) they singled us out and asked us to leave the town.

'We were around 100, all of us mothers. They would never allow any young woman to leave.'

'Boko Haram took around 300 women and kept us in a school in Baga', one unnamed woman was quoted as saying by Amnesty International in a statement.
'They released the older women, mothers and most of the children after four days but are still keeping the younger women.'

The news comes after aerial shots emerged yesterday of the towns taken a day before the attack and a day after, showing the massive scale of destruction after the massacre. 
Before: Infra-red images show the densely populated village of Doron Baga on January 2 - before the attack
Before: Infra-red images show the densely populated village of Doron Baga on January 2 - before the attack
After: This image taken on January 7, following Boko Haram's assault, shows the village transformed by death and destruction
After: This image taken on January 7, following Boko Haram's assault, shows the village transformed by death and destruction
The president addressed the crowd and told them that all areas of Nigeria under the control of Boko Haram would be recaptured soon 
The president addressed the crowd and told them that all areas of Nigeria under the control of Boko Haram would be recaptured soon 
Around 5,000 people are currently living in a camp after their towns were completely destroyed in the deadly attack 
Around 5,000 people are currently living in a camp after their towns were completely destroyed in the deadly attack 

Today, there was no independent confirmation of the exact figure or indication of how many were still being held, but another survivor who escaped also said hundreds of women and girls were held.

Civilian vigilante Yanaye Grema, who escaped after hiding for three days in the town, said he met four women, including one with a baby on her back, as he fled through the bush following the attack last week.

'They told me they were among hundreds of women that were abducted by Boko Haram and detained,' he told news agency AFP.  

Meanwhile, Nigeria's president has made a surprise visit to the heartland of the Boko Haram movement to meet survivors of the massacre which saw an estimated 2,500 people slaughtered by Islamist militants.

Goodluck Jonathan spent three hours in Maidugri, capital of Borno State, and addressed 5,000 people who have been sheltering in a camp since the attack by the terror group earlier this month.

The president's visit comes just a day after new images obtained by Amnesty International show the devastation of the assault - with more than 3,700 structures including houses and schools completely destroyed in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga.

One witness of the attack described how the ruthless terror group were shooting indiscriminately, killing even small children and a woman who was in labour.

During his visit to the camp, Mr Jonathan promised that all areas of Nigeria under the control of Boko Haram would be recaptured soon.

He told the crowd of displaced people: 'I want to assure you that you will soon go back to your houses.'

The president's visit to Maiduguri - his first since March 2013 - was shrouded in secrecy and came after a previous trip to the region in May last year was cancelled at the last minute.

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