Rescued Chibok Girls Speak Out After Years in Boko Haram Captivity
Two of the infamous Chibok girls, Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, were revealed to the press in Maiduguri last Thursday. The girls, abducted at just 12 years old by Boko Haram, have been held since their rescue on April 21. Both were forced into marriage with deadliest jihadists and bore children during their captivity.
Married Off by Boko Haram’s Dead Leader
Major-General Ibrahim Ali detailed Maltha’s harrowing story: “Hauwa, found heavily pregnant with a three-year-old child beside her, was married to three fighters at different times.” Her first husband, Salman, was a Boko Haram lieutenant who made propaganda videos. After Salman’s death in battle, Maltha was forced to marry another fighter—who also later fell in combat. Tragically, the two children she had with her second husband died from illness.
“Hauwa was just over eight months pregnant when rescued and delivered a healthy baby boy on April 28, 2023,” Ali confirmed. Marcus endured a similar fate, forced into two marriages with fighters killed in clashes with troops.
“We Had No Choice” – The Girls Break Their Silence
Maltha told reporters the marriages were forced personally by Boko Haram’s late leader Abubakar Shekau. “We did not get married by choice. It was Shekau who married us off,” she revealed. Shekau, who died last May during battles with rival jihadists, had released chilling videos showing the Chibok girls wearing veils, reciting the Koran, and threatening forced marriages.
Chibok Kidnappings: A Tragic Legacy
- In April 2014, Boko Haram raided the Chibok girls’ school and abducted 276 pupils aged 12 to 17.
- 57 girls escaped by jumping off the trucks shortly after the abduction.
- 80 were released after secret talks in exchange for jailed Boko Haram commanders.
- 96 remain missing, believed to be forced into marriages with jihadists.
Since that horrific day, Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted schools across northeast Nigeria with kidnappings and deadly attacks. The brutal 14-year-long insurgency has killed 40,000 people and displaced two million, sparking one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region.
The rescue of Maltha and Marcus offers a rare ray of hope to the families of missing girls and highlights the ongoing terror still cast by Boko Haram.
