Rescued Chibok girl narrates how she was forced to marry three Bomo Haram terrorists

Hauwa Maltha, one of the two Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok students who were recently freed by the military, claimed on Thursday that she was made to wed three terrorists in the nine years following their 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping.

When talking to reporters, Hauwa expressed his happiness over their rescue and revealed that the military had saved them when they had gone out into the forest to fetch water.

When asked if they were forced to get married to three husbands, she said: “Yes, it was Shekau that married us to them. The first husband went away. Unfortunately, he never returned and Shekau said the marriage had collapsed since they chose to be infidels.

“We did not do it intentionally. I married three different men. There, I married another fighter in the village, and he died after a fight between the Shekau soldiers. I have two children with him before the last one.”

The Theatre Commander of the North-East Joint Operation, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Ali, briefed reporters at the Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri and stated that Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, who were both serial numbers two and 103 on the list of the missing victims, were found on April 21, 2023, by soldiers from the 114 Taskforce Battalion Bitta at Lagara, under the command of the 21 Armoured Brigade Bama.

He reported the rescue of Hauwa Maltha, a 26-year-old Kibaku woman from Jila in the Chibok Local Government of Borno State, along with her 3-year-old child.

He explained that Hauwa married Salman, a cinematographer for Abubakar Shekau, in the village of Gulukos in the Sambisa jungle while she was still being held captive.

“Salman later died in Lake Chad. Thereafter, Hauwa Maltha got married to one Mallam Muhammad in Gobara and had two children for him who later died due to sickness. Muhammad, her second husband, was also killed in Ukuba terrorist enclaves in Sambisa forest during clashes between Boko Haram/ISWAP,” he said.

“Hauwa who was about eight months and two weeks pregnant during the time of her rescue delivered a bouncing baby boy on 28 April 2023 while undergoing thorough medical examination along with her baby Fatima at 7 Div Medical Hospital and Services, “he said.

According to Ali, 26-year-old Esther was forcibly married to a Boko Haram fighter named Garba, also known as Garus, while she was a captive. Garba was murdered when troops launched an onslaught against the terrorists' strongholds.

“She was later married off to another insurgent, Abba, in Ukuba terrorist enclaves in Sambisa forest until her rescue by troops of Operation Hadin Kai.

“Since their rescue, they have undergone thorough medical examination along with their babies and are adequately resuscitated and will be handed over to the Borno State government for further administration.

Source