‘We waited for death,’ Freed captives open up on ordeal

Some women who were recently freed from terrorist sect, Boko Haram have opened up on their ordeal while in captivity.

“They didn't allow us to move an inch. If you needed the toilet, they followed you. We were kept in one place. We were under bondage,” one victim, Asabe Umaru said according to Reuters.

“We thank God to be alive today. We thank the Nigerian army for saving our lives,” she added.

Another explained how they had been stoned by the terrorists when they shouted for help after sighting the soldiers who eventually rescued them.

“When we saw the soldiers we raised our hands and shouted for help. Boko Haram who were guarding us started stoning us so we would follow them to another hideout, but we refused because we were sure the soldiers would rescue us,” Umaru, a 24 year-old mother of two, said.

“Every day we witnessed the death of one of us and waited for our turn,” she added.

Another woman, Cecilia Abel, explained how her husband and oldest child were killed while she watched before she and her remaining eight children were taken into the forest.

“We were fed only ground dry maize in the afternoons. It was not good for human consumption. Many of us that were captured died in Sambisa Forest. Even after our rescue about 10 died on our way to this place,” she said.

The Nigerian military has, over the past week, rescued about 700 women and children from the sect in an intensive operation in Sambisa Forest, a notorious Boko Haram stronghold.