LINKS TO THE STORIES INCLUDED IN THE NOVELLA:
LAMI, MARIA & HAJARA
Transcript and animation broadcast on the BBC’s ‘100 Women’ program, published on 27th October 2014 HERE.
BABA GONI
Article written by Barbara Jones, which first appeared in The Mail on Sunday on 18th May 2014, HERE.
CHIBOK GIRLS WHO WALKED TO FREEDOM
Full article written by Ruth Maclean, which first appeared in The Times on 12th October 2014, HERE.
LADI APAGU
Ladi Apagu’s story, told to Chika Oduah in January 2015, HERE.
LINKS TO THE OTHER STORIES LISTED IN THE NOVELLA:
KUMA ISHAKU, JOY BISHARA & GODIYA SIMON (Chibok schoolgirls) told their stories in an article entitled, ‘Tales of Escapees in Nigeria Add to Worries About Other Kidnapped Girls’ by Adam Nossiter, published in The New York Times on 14th May 2014. I really, really wanted to reprint their stories here because I drew a lot on them for the novella. Unfortunately, due to copyright issues, I had to leave them out. Google the title or find it HERE
SARATU ISA, RAHAB YAYA & COMFORT AYUBA (Chibok schoolgirls) give first-hand accounts of their escapes in the ‘Chibok Affair’ section of an article entitled ‘Nigeria: Escape from Boko Haram: We went through hell to survive—Chibok Schoolgirls’ by Sam Eyoboka, published on Vanguard on 2nd August 2014. Find it here: HERE
ABIGAIL JOHN & DORCAS AIDEN, aged 15 and 20, describe how they were kidnapped, held by Boko Haram, and managed to escape, in a video and transcript entitled ‘Nigeria Chibok Girls’ first published by Associated Press on February 11th 2015. Find it HERE
MONICA SUNDAY, aged 20, describes how she was kidnapped with her baby and held in a camp with some of the Chibok schoolgirls for three days. She later managed to escape, but her baby died. This article was written by Jonathan Miller and first appeared on Channel 4 News on 12th February 2015. Find it HERE
VICTORIA YOUHANA, aged 15, was kidnapped with her mother and five brothers from Baga. They later managed to escape, and Victoria came to the UK at the invitation of Aid to the Church in Need to tell her story, which was published in the Daily Express. You can read it HERE
ANONYMOUS WOMEN AND GIRLS
In 2014 Human Rights Watch published a detailed report concerning the treatment of Women and Girls by Boko Haram. It is entitled ‘Those Terrible Weeks in their Camp: Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in Northeast Nigeria’ and it is well worth reading. It can be found HERE
There is also an excellent summary of the report by Radhika Sanghani entitled, ‘Inside Boko Haram: Where women persuade men to rape kidnapped young girls’, which first appeared in The Telegraph on 27th October 2014. Find it HERE
LIBERATED WOMEN AND GIRLS
Girls liberated from Boko Haram face rejection amid fears that they may have been radicalized and that their babies, fathered by Boko Haram fighters, will have ‘bad blood’. Read more in this article by Dionne Searcey which first appeared in The New York Times on 16th February 2016. Find it HERE
UM HALEEMA, a sixteen-year-old victim of a forced marriage to a Boko Haram man, was determined to keep her baby despite facing threats from her own Muslim community. See the article ‘Boko Haram kidnap victim: Stigmatized for carrying captor’s baby’ by Nima Elbagir, first published on CNN on 11th June, 2015. Find it HERE
ADDITIONAL STORIES
‘I try to forget about the past’ – pupil who escaped Nigeria’s Chibok schoolgirl abduction tells of new life after Nigerian university offers scholarship for those who escaped Boko Haram – but the militant threat comes ever nearer. HERE
‘Cosmopolitan’ interview with three Chibok girls who escaped and went to study in the United States. HERE
3 stories of women freed/escaped from Boko Haram. HERE
Article about an Amnesty International report about Boko Haram killing those who won’t join them and training girls to fight. HERE
Mass graves found as Nigerian army advance. Are Chibok girls among the dead? HERE
Executions, beatings and forced marriage: Life as a Boko Haram captive. Three Nigerian women captured by the armed group describe their imprisonment and escapes. HERE
How Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok. HERE
Pictures and profiles of some girls still missing. HERE
RECENT (APRIL 2016):
Nightmare still not over. Women who have been rescued from Boko Haram find that their nightmare is far from over. HERE
Boko Haram demands $50 million ransom for Chibok schoolgirls. Evidence apparently provided that at least 15 are alive; previous evidence has suggested some are dead. HERE
15 Chibok girls shown alive? Report about a video released on the two year anniversary of the kidnapping, purporting to show 15 Chibok girls alive. HERE
Even when located, Chibok girls cannot realistically be rescued. HERE
LESS RELIABLE ACCOUNTS:
These accounts are harder to substantiate, seem more sensational in tone and have not been picked up by Western media, hence I regard them as ‘less reliable’.
Raped by 15 men a day. HERE
Chibok Christian girls gang raped and shot. HERE
Chibok girls impregnated etc. HERE