Key points

• Nurse Amirah Salihu delivered 10 babies bare-handed after Boko Haram discovered her medical skills
• Captives slept near a river in the rain and survived mainly on unseasoned corn with salt
• Salihu’s two brothers were killed during the attack because their father had resisted the terrorists

A rescued nurse from Woro community in Kwara State has described how she delivered 10 babies with her bare hands while held captive by Boko Haram terrorists for nearly six months, after the group carried out a deadly attack on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area on February 3.

Amirah Salihu, daughter of the chief of Woro community, Umar Salihu, shared her account in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday. She was among the 176 women and children freed on Wednesday after months in captivity.

Captives slept in the rain and survived on corn with salt

Salihu described conditions that were harsh from the moment the abductors took them in. The captives were poorly fed, often receiving only corn with salt and a seasoning cube, with no oil or pepper. On some days, even the seasoning cube was taken away.

“The kind of food they were giving us was bad. The day we got there, they just dropped guinea corn for us with salt and Maggi. Every day after, they gave us one bag of corn without oil, pepper, nothing,” she said.

She added that the captives were forced to sleep near a river, exposed to heavy rainfall. When they tried to light fires for warmth, the abductors ordered them to put the flames out. Fruit was given occasionally but not regularly.

Thirteen children died in captivity, according to the Kwara State Government. Twelve others were not freed with the main group and remain unaccounted for.

Terrorists wanted to keep her after learning she was a nurse

When pregnant women among the captives went into labor, the abductors asked whether any nurse was present. Salihu initially denied her profession out of fear but eventually helped deliver babies when other women needed assistance.

“I helped like 10 women for the delivery, without gloves. I used my hands to help them,” she said.

Once the terrorists learned of her skills, they tried to keep her behind when the others were freed. She refused and insisted on returning home.

Salihu also recounted how her two brothers were killed during the February attack. She said the terrorists targeted her family because her father had earlier refused to allow them into the community and had brought soldiers to protect the village. By the time the attackers arrived, the soldiers were gone.

She said the terrorists justified their actions by saying they were fighting for a religious cause and rejecting democracy in favor of Quranic law. She confirmed there were no cases of rape or sexual assault among the captives.

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq received the freed victims in Ilorin on Friday and later visited a hospital where 14 sick survivors, including three women who gave birth in captivity, were receiving treatment.