The Ransom Dealers

Boko Haram

Zainab came awake abruptly. The time was 3am, and the night cold and chilly. A silent, mournful breeze was blowing, making a sinister sound. She shivered, cuddled up in her blanket. Turning over, she glanced over at her roommate in trhe dormitory. Like everyone else in the hostel, Ana was also fast asleep.

Zainab lifted her head off her pillow to glance around the dormitory. All her mates were dead to the world. Ever since the Chibok kidnapping by the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram, she had always harbored a heart wrenching fear of the dark.

To be kidnapped like that by monsters, to be uprooted from society, to disappear off the face of 1~the earth, to be raped by those demons was a nightmare she lived day and night.

Kidnappings by jihadist terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria's northeast and northwest began in 2009 in concurrence with the conflicts in the region.

Abductions by Islamist terrorist Boko Haram are to further its agenda, recruit fighters, instil fear, gain more international popularity and force the government to negotiate with it for ransom which is one of the means of generating funds for its terrorist operation.

Boko Haram have committed several mass kidnappings of students.

Their 2014 kidnapping of 276 teenage girls from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, was covered extensively by the international media, making millions of people aware of that specific crime and of the insurgency. Boko Haram often demand that victims' families or the government pay them ransoms, or that the government release prisoners from their group.

Boko Haram has brainwashed and forced some of the young people it has kidnapped into joining them and carrying out attacks, including suicide bombings.

Boko Haram forced many young female victims to marry them.

Zainab had every right to be scared, as another deadlier terrorist group was camped close to Dalori. They were an unknown terror group, but they operate the same way as Boko Haram. If anything they were more savage, and targeted only young girls. They abducted, raped and sometimes sold the young girls off. It didn't help that the Federal Government had deployed twenty military personnel to keep watch over The Special Girls College, Dalori. Wasn't it saaid that the insurgents had superior weapons and fighting skills?

She closed her eyes again, in an effort to get back to sleep. After tossing and turning without success, she felt an overpowering urge to empty her bladder. Well, she wasn't going alone, so she shook Ana awake. They tiptoed out of the hostel and hurried briskly across the open space towards the toilets. But they never made it...

As they made their way to the toilets, they heard the rumbling sounds of trucks approaching their school gates. Zainab paused in her stride, ‘Quick! Lets hide!!’, she told Ana.

It was a Sunday and they were to start exams the following day. As soon as they started to hear shootings outside the premises, Zainab knew they were done for. She quickly slid her hand into her brassiere and pulled out a small TECNO mobile phone. Ana opened her eyes wide in shock and fear when she saw the phone. It was against the school rules to possess a phone in school, and the penalty was expulsion. Zainab's father had given her the phone in case of any emergency. This definitely qualified as one.

She pressed the power button and it immediately came on with a vibrating sound.

She called her father on the phone to told him what was happening. He told her to stay calm and find a good hiding place when she got the chance. Zainab told him that the school was already surrounded so there was nowhere to run.

Zainab was born into a polygamous family of fifteen children. Fourteen of her siblings were boys. Being an only girl wasn’t easy, as all her brothers picked on her whenever they got the opportunity, which meant all of the time. This unfair treatment from her brothers had toughened her and made her very street smart. This, coupled with her above average intelligence made her very sharp and quick on the uptake.

They had started running to the shrubs on their right when they heard a gunshot scatter the silence of the night, followed by shouts of ‘Allahu Akbar!!!’.

Her worst nightmare had become real. There were screams of ‘Wayyo Allah! Wayyo na mutu!', coming from their hostel. Armed men jumped out of the trucks, about seven of them, by Zainab’s count. By her side, Ana was shivering like a leaf, and she had already wet her pants out of terror. To her surprise, Zainab was very calm.

There were sporadic shots in the air, but generally away from where Zainab and Ana were hiding. From where she crouched, Zainab could see her friends being herded in dozens into the parked trucks.

One of the girls bolted from the queue, in an attempt to escape. She hadn’t taken half a dozen stumbling strides when one of the terrorists fired his gun. She was flung high in the air like a shot chicken, and her body slammed unto the ground with a sickening thud.

There was pandemonium, screaming left and right. The poor girls were all yammering and crying in absolute terror. Zainab watched with her heart hammering in her chest.

The terrorist that had executed the dead girl raised his AK47 rifle up and released a stream of continuous shots, ‘Shut up!!!’, he yelled at the top of his voice. ‘Anyone that tries to escape again will also be killed!!!’.

Zainab and Ana did not hear any movements behind them until it was too late. ‘Get up!!’, a voice barked behind them, the muzzle of a rifle stuck against Zainab’s head. Ana started pleading, ‘We are sorry please don’t kill us!’, and they were both escorted to join the other girls in the truck. They were pushed in roughly, and the trucks started their rough journey. Just before take off, Zainab’s sharp ears heard one of the terrorists shout, ‘Lets go to Sambisa!!!’.

The journey to Sambisa took over four uncomfortable hours. It was a nightmarish experience because of the uneven terrain in the forest. They were all in a heap in the back of the truck, and Zainab imagined she could smell the fear emanating from her fellow captives. They all cried silently, as they were jostled against each other.

Finally, Zainab felt the truck ground to a halt. She heard shouts of ‘Allahu Akbar!’ repeatedly from outside. She had guessed right. They had arrived Sambisa. ‘Everybody come out!’, an armed guard commanded them. They all scrambled out, looking dazed and disoriented.

Zainab looked curiously around, noticing that tall trees in a small clearing totally surrounded them. Her heart sank… No one could find them here! No wonder the Chibok girls were never found. There were also short trees and shrubs everywhere.

Scattered around the camp, there were tents made from trampoline. Zainab noticed that the camp was all male, except for them. They were over two hundred girls in all the trucks, and they all stood, shivering with fright and apprehension.

All the terrorists were looking towards a tent that stood apart from all the rest. Their expressions were all sombre, as if they were waiting for a divine appearance. Zainab looked in the same direction. There was a rustle at the entrance and out of the tent came a giant of a man. He was not wearing a mask, though the full beard on his face was enough to serve as any form of disguise. Clamped in his mouth was a huge bamboo chewing stick, and his eyes were bloodshot. Her heart sank. She knew who this evil looking man was. She had seen his videos many times on youtube. She didn't need anyone to tell her that they were now face to face with Boko Haram leader, Osaman Ibn Shakawi.

Shakawi stood in front of them, looking down at them with such malevolence that they all looked at their feet in abject terror. Zainab was shivering so much that her teeth were chattering in her mouth. She was embarrassed to realize that she had already wet her pants. She didn't even remember doing it, such was her terror.

‘You are our slaves now!’, he bellowed. ‘Some of you we will sell off, some we will take as concubines. Anyone who doesn't fulfil her God given duties of satisfying her husband will be beheaded!’.

Hearing this, the captives started wailing ‘Wayyo Allah! Wayyo Allah!’.

‘Keep quiet!' commanded Shakawi.

They were all lined up in rows. The men stood in front of them, some with masks, and some without any form of disguise. They all held automatic weapons. They all looked menacing.

Osaman started inspecting the girls, row by row. He did this by roughly squeezing their breasts and buttocks. After going through the fourth row, he came upon Ana, as she stood shivering with fright. He looked her over, licking his lips.

‘I have found my gift’, he said. The girls flinched as some of the terrorists fired their automatic weapons into the air in a sort of festive mood. As he clutched her arm roughly, she started to cry and struggle. Out of rage, he struck her a crushing blow with the handle of his rifle. He pulled out a pistol from his pocket, and aimed at her head.

‘Please don’t kill her!’, Zainab begged.

Ignoring Zainab’s plea, he pulled the trigger. Ana’s brains splattered on the sand as she fell on her side like a rag doll. Her hands and legs twitched a little, then became still. Zainab shut her eyes. She couldn’t believe that her dear friend was shot dead right in front of her eyes. This was for real; it was not a dream.

He looked at Zainab, and when she met his bloodshot eyes, he beckoned. She hesitated, then remembering Ana’s fate, walked over to him. He looked her over critically, then with a smile, he said, ‘This one is even better!’, and they all laughed.

Pulling her by his side, they headed towards his tent. The other terrorists made a scramble to pick their choices. The raping was about to begin…