A kidnap victim simply identified as Aisha has recounted the harrowing ordeal of being forced by bandits in Zamfara State to bury her children who died in captivity.
Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states remain among the major flashpoints of banditry in the Northwestern Nigeria, where communities continue to suffer abductions, attacks, displacement and imposition of levies by bandits.
Speaking in an interview with DW Hausa, Aisha, whose swelling feet bear testimony to months of traumatic experience, said she and her three children were abducted while travelling in a vehicle in Zamfara State.
“They suddenly opened fire, forcing our vehicle to stop. My three children and I, along with other passengers were abducted and taken into the forest,” she said.
Aisha, the sole survivor of the family of four, said she spent six months and five days in captivity, enduring hunger, thirst and illness and the agony of losing her children.
“I was forced to bury every victim, who died in captivity including my own children, too. They first killed two of my children and then ordered me to bury them,” she said.
She added that her infant son later died after suffering severe injuries inflicted by the bandits.
“My baby was sleeping beside my daughter, when he died. Bandits wanted to feed his remains to their dogs, but I pleaded with them to allow me to bury him. They threw a spade at me and I buried my son myself.”
Aisha said the memories of the abuse her children endured continue to haunt her.
“My children constantly cried from hunger, thirst, pain and the beating they received from the bandits,” Aisha said.
She explained that she escaped under cover of the darkness.
“It was around midnight when we followed a route out of the forest. We spent three days trying to find our way out of Zamfara bush, before finally reaching a settlement,” she added.
Aisha appealed for assistance, saying: “I am in urgent need of medical care and food support.”
