A Heart Touching Story Of How Mum Who Fled Boko Haram Reunited With The Son She Left Behind

Mother of 5, Margaret (pictured above) and her two children were by the Boko Haram militants when they stormed her village near Damboa.

Margaret who had no one looking after her 3 other children back at home was worried sick about their safety. So, she did what any desperate mother in her shoes would do.

She said, “so, I just took the risk and fled with Halima,” adding that it would have been impossible to escape carrying both children.

She took the painful decision to leave Jacob in the jihadist camp and begged another abductee, 20-year-old Hauwa, to look after him. I met Hauwa in another room of the school that is a temporary home for the rescued women and children. Despite all the challenges Hauwa still managed to keep Jacob and another woman’s child safe – a heroic act that also helped her avoid being handed out as a wife of a Boko Haram fighter.

Even though Hauwa was not married, she would tell the Boko Haram men she was and say, “Look, here are my two children.

Hauwa

Hearing that the Nigerian military had brought 275 of the rescued women and children to Yola, Margaret headed to the school “to find out if I was lucky”.

“When I found my son, Jacob, here, I was so happy it was as if I could fly,” Margaret said, her face suddenly lighting up.

Jacob needs a lot of help though. He is severely malnourished, as are more than 30 of the 200 children that were brought here.

Help is available at the very basic clinic that has been set up at the school but some are disturbingly emaciated, with protruding ribs, and need emergency treatment.