The 91 pupils of Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina in Niger state who were recently after 88 days in captivity have started narrating their sordid experiences while in custody of their abductors.
Recall that an armed group attacked the school on May 30, 2021, abducting 200 pupils in the process.
The gunman reportedly attacked the town of Tegina, in the Rafi local government area of the state, riding on motorcycles and shooting indiscriminately. They then abducted the students from the Salihu Tanko Islamic School.
The students said they were fed mostly rice and kunnu (a local delicacy) during their 88 days in captivity and were flogged daily by their abductors.
Furera Isah, one of the abductees, who spoke about their experiences at the hands of their captors, said they enjoyed no comfort whatsoever throughout the period as they were made to sleep on bare ground and were ceaselessly beaten by rain.
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She said: “The months we spent there were not comfortable at all. Our lives were not sweet. They beat us all the time. Every time, they call us at night to beat us.
“As for food, they gave us rice and kunnu. We usually ate three times a day. They did not starve us. But they beat us every time.
“They allowed us to pray. We slept in a shabby place. The rain usually beats us whenever it falls.”
Furera recalled that their captors made them trek for four days after they were abducted, saying that none of them was carried on the bandits’ motorcycles.
“After they carried us from the school, we walked very far. We spent four days on the road. Even when we were tired, they beat us and forced us to walk.”
Another of the pupils, who spoke barely before he was whisked away by medical personnel, said that none of them was assaulted or molested.
“They did not touch us; they only beat us. They flogged us every day,” he said.
Medical personnel confirmed that they discovered a lot of marks on the bodies of the children, which was evidence that they were beaten continuously.