It was a very beautiful and serene Monday morning, yes: not all Mondays are chaotic, not having so much to do, I had enough time to log on to Twitter before getting back to work.
When I opened my Twitter app, the first photo I saw was the wedding invite of a little girl who may not be up to 11 years old: full makeup and her groom: a full-bearded man of at least 80 years old.
Was I surprised? Hmm.. well, not really, and that is because child marriage is a very common practice in the northern part of Nigeria.
I was only surprised at her husband's guts, how can a man joyfully wed an underaged girl and still have the nerve to print an invite?
Each time we hear the words
"Third world country"
what quickly comes to our minds are:
Poverty, hunger, starvation, gross mismanagement of public funds and a high level of corruption.
All these are very true but what nobody tells you about, is the endless suffering and ordeal of the girl child in these regions.
Photo credit: @Unsplash Joshua Oluwagbemiga
In 2014, 276 girls were abducted by the members of the Boko haram, as at the time of this article, only 164 girls have been released, the rest of them have not been seen or heard from.
There are no doubts that the girls are either dead or sex slaves of their captors, and with the way things are going on in Nigeria, it doesn't look like they will be back any time soon; the Nigerian government seems to have exhausted all their options.
Here are a few real-life accounts of women and young girls who have been through horrendous experiences in these regions.
.
1.Starving women raped by soldiers and militia who claim to be rescuing them- This day live
According to Amnesty International, thousands of people and girls who have survived the brutal rule of Boko haram were sent to IDP( internally displaced persons) camp for rehabilitation only to be abused by the Nigerian security and civilian joint task force, they separate these women from their husbands, confine them to a remote and satellite camp where they are raped repeatedly in exchange for food.
2. Maimuna's story, Nigeria- Girls not brides.
https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/maimunas-story-nigeria/
This touching story with a positive ending is about a young girl from the northern part of Nigeria who at one time was the only girl in her entire school. None of her mates (girls) made it out of primary school: they were all married off at a very young age, she has been able to go further her education because of the unwavering support of her father and an NGO group called 'Girls not bride'.
3. Rebuilding after fleeing from Boko Haram
Yaya's Story- Shelterbox.ng
https://www.shelterbox.org/impact/yayas-story/
This story is about a 34-year-old widow whose husband was murdered in cold blood right before her very eyes.
She was pregnant with her youngest child when she had to flee from her husband's killers; she spent three days in the bushes hiding from Boko haram members.
She now lives in an IDP camp in Makolo Cameroun with her five kids
4.Child bride freed by Nigerian authorities looks to new beginnings- The Guardian ng
A 14-year-old girl named Wasila Umaru poisoned her 35-year-old abusive husband and three of his friends by serving them a meal laced with rat poison.
She would have been tried in court as an adult if not for the timely intervention of a lawyer called Hussaina Ibrahim from the International Federation of Women Lawyers.
5. Terrorism Survivors:
"The terrorist killed many people in front of us"- news.un.org
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/08/1044191
In this article published by the United Nations, A Nigerian mother of two: Hawa Abdu, was abducted by Boko Haram in 2014 and spent four whole years with outlawed terrorists moving around the Northeastern region of Nigeria.
Before she was saved by the Nigerian army, she was forced to marry a Boko haram member.
Hawa now suffers from heart disease and anxiety as a result of the trauma she went through.
Since the attack, she is yet to know the whereabouts of her mother and younger daughter; she doesn't even know if they are dead or alive
These cases are just a few stories out of many, I hope the world will pause for a minute to look into the problems of the third world, it's not just about the killings and starvation, but the consistent and perpetual wickedness (with no end in sight) meted out on women and young girls in these areas.
To download and read my book titled
Beyond Agadez: the untold stories of the victims of human trafficking and organised come
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