A woman who escaped from Boko Haram militants in Gwoza town has told our correspondent that Abubakar Shekau, the tempestuous leader of the terrorist Islamist group, Boko Haram, was currently entrenched in Gwoza, a town located 84 miles south-east of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. In addition, she suggested that some of the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in mid-April, 2014 may be holed up in the town as well.
The source, a 38-year old mother of seven children, made the startling claim to reporters in Maiduguri yesterday. She said Mr. Shekau, who has achieved a measure of global notoriety because of his abrasive video tapes filled with violent threats and mockery of women, the military and “unbelievers,” was often seen riding around Gwoza on motor bikes and offering open sermons.
The woman, who painted a horrific portrait of life in Gwoza, a border town with rocky terrain that has long been a refuge of Islamist insurgents, added that suspected that some of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls were in the same town. She disclosed that there were lots of young females in captivity in Gwoza town, the headquarters of Gwoza local government area.
The source also stated that more than 70 bodies of elderly men killed by Islamist militants in the town were yet to be buried as at the time of her escape. “There are corpses left in the open of elderly men slaughtered by Boko Haram,” the woman said.
She said hundreds of women were staying in various camps run by Boko Haram members in Gwoza or nearby towns.
The woman said she had spent more than seven months in one of the militants’ dens before she and nine other women managed to make a quick escape when Nigerian troops dropped a few bombs near their camp, creating a panic that enabled them to dash off into safety. She said she spent many days in the bush before she managed to get to a town in Adamawa State where residents offered her help.
“There are many camp in various places in Gwoza with hundreds of women and young girls,” the woman said. She added that the Islamist insurgents “kill people day in, day out. Recently, more than 75 elderly men were slaughtered and their corpses are yet to be buried.”
She added that Mr. Shekau and other militants often rode around in utility vehicles and preached against the Nigerian governments, ordering their captives to embrace their doctrines or face summary execution.
Boko Haram seized Gwoza town on August 6, 2014 in one of the group’s bloodiest operations. The whereabouts of the emir of the beleaguered town was unknown for some time, but he finally showed up in Maiduguri and subsequently traveled to Abuja where he met President Goodluck Jonathan.