Rescued Chibok Girls Reveal Horrific Boko Haram Captivity and Forced Marriages
Boko Haram Brides Speak Out After Rescue
Two of the kidnapped Chibok girls, Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, have been unveiled to the public in Maiduguri after their dramatic rescue on April 21. Both were just 12 when Boko Haram abducted and forced them into marriage with jihadist fighters under the notorious leader Abubakar Shekau.
Maltha, who was heavily pregnant and found with a three-year-old child, endured forced marriages to three different militants. Major-General Ibrahim Ali revealed she first wed Salman, a Shekau lieutenant behind propaganda videos, before he was killed in battle. Her second husband also died fighting Nigerian troops—and tragically, the two children she had with him passed away from illness.
Forced to Marry, Forced to Bear Children
“We did not get married on our own choice. It was Shekau that married us to them,” Maltha told reporters, exposing the brutal control the jihadist leader had over abducted girls. Just a week after her rescue, the eight-month pregnant Maltha gave birth to a healthy baby boy on April 28 while under medical care.
Marcus was also twice married off to fighters who both died in combat. Their harrowing stories are a grim testament to the ordeal faced by many of the abducted girls.
Chibok School Abduction Still Haunts Nigeria
Back in April 2014, Boko Haram militants stormed the Chibok girls’ boarding school in Borno state, snatching 276 pupils aged 12 to 17 in a raid that shocked the world. Fifty-seven girls escaped by jumping from trucks shortly after the kidnapping. Another 80 were released in prisoner exchanges. Yet 96 girls remain missing, feared to still be held captive and forced into marriage.
Ongoing Crisis in Nigeria’s Northeast
The 14-year insurgency has claimed 40,000 lives and displaced nearly two million people. Schools remain prime targets for jihadists, who continue abductions and attacks. The recent rescue of Maltha and Marcus offers a rare hopeful glimpse amid a grim humanitarian crisis.
As families cling to hope, the chilling reality is clear: Boko Haram’s deadly grip on the region—and on the lives of innocent girls—remains a terrifying threat.
