A Christian teenager from Nigeria escaped from the slavery she had suffered for nine years. Maryamu Joseph recounted the ordeal she suffered at the hands of Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group that kidnapped, enslaved, and tortured her for nine years. She was able to escape just two months ago.
“Nine years in slavery! Of torture! Of agony! We have suffered greatly at the hands of these ruthless and heartless people. For nine years we have seen the innocent blood of my Christian brothers shed, murdered by people who do not value life,” said Maryamu, 16, in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
“They murdered without remorse, as if it were something normal. Those nine years wasted in the Sambisa forest cannot be forgotten in the blink of an eye. Words do not do justice to what I have experienced, “added the teenager.
The girl was abducted at the age of seven in February 2013. She has taken forcibly by the members of Boko Haram from her de ella village, Bazz. Two of her brothers were also captured: one of them remains kidnapped, but the other was murdered.
“They cut off his head from him, then his hands, legs and stomach,” she lamented.
The teenager revealed that during their captivity at the hands of Muslim terrorists, Christians were locked up “in cages, as if they were animals.”
“The first thing they did was forcefully convert us to Islam. They changed my name, they warned us not to pray as Christians or they would kill us,” she recounted.
On her 10th birthday de ella, the terrorists intended to marry her off de ella to one of their bosses de ella, but she refused.
“As a punishment, they locked me in a cage for a whole year. They brought me food once a day and put it under the door without ever opening it,” she said.
Asked about her escape from her, Maryamu said she took advantage of an early morning when the camp was calm and the captors were asleep. It was July 8, 2022 when she and 12 other classmates ran, aimlessly, through a forest.
“We went as far as our legs would carry us, for two days, until we reached Maiduguri, on July 10, 2022. Upon arrival, I fainted, when I woke up I was in the arms of a good Samaritan who gave us food and water to recover forces. Later, I came to the camp run by the Church,” she recounted.
“The first thing they did was pray for me and encourage me to return to the faith. I am happy to have returned to Christianity, since I returned to Maiduguri the pain has lessened. I hope that, in time, God will help me overcome my bitterness and embrace peace, although I don’t see that happening anytime soon,” she added.
She was in a trauma center run by the diocese to overcome the wounds in her mind and body. “I think I have learned to adapt to the outside world and talk to people. My relationship with my caregivers is becoming very friendly, it is no longer aggressive, like at the beginning of my healing process,” said Maryamu.
She also noticed that while what happened to her has taken her away from God and it is difficult for her to return to Him, she is getting better every day.
“Returning to Christianity after nine years practicing Islam is a great effort,” he said.
Regarding the future, the teenager assures that she first seeks to focus on not having “pain and anguish”.
“Now, I want to be with me again. Free myself from the pain and anguish I feel. But I would like to get an education, go to school, learn to make friends and speak English,” he told ACN.
Finally, Maryamu called on “everyone who was touched by God to help me.”
“I don’t feel whole or safe, I need to get out of this environment and start over. It would make me very happy to get a scholarship to go to school. I’m just thinking out loud, but I would be very excited if my wish came true, ”she concluded.