‘I Delivered 10 Babies Without Gloves’ — Rescued Kwara Nurse Recounts Six Months in Captivity

By Aliyu Oyewole

A nurse rescued after spending nearly six months in captivity has recounted the harsh conditions she and other victims endured following the February 3 terrorist attack on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Amirah Salihu, daughter of the Chief of Woro community, Umar Salihu, said she delivered 10 babies during the period using her bare hands after pregnant women among the captives went into labour.

Salihu disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.

According to her, the captives were subjected to severe hunger and deprivation, with their abductors providing them with little food and forcing them to sleep in exposed areas, including near a river.

“The kind of food that they were giving us was bad. The day that 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. There was a day that they didn’t even give us Maggi again, just salt,” she said.

She said the captives were sometimes given kuka, but that the abductors later stopped providing it.

Salihu added that the victims were made to sleep in a location surrounded by water and were exposed to heavy rainfall.

“The place that we sleep is inside river. And rain always used to fall, sometimes. If we set fire, they asked us to put off the fire,” she said.

‘I helped 10 women deliver without gloves’

The nurse said she assisted pregnant women who went into labour after the terrorists asked whether there was a medical professional among the captives.

She said she initially concealed her profession because she feared the abductors might force her to remain with them.

“Sometimes they give us fruits, sometimes they don’t give us. That’s how we used to sleep with our children.

“And I have seen people over there, pregnant woman, that they deliver,” she said.

Salihu said she eventually assisted about 10 women to deliver their babies without gloves or proper medical equipment.

“They asked of nurse, ‘Is there any nurse with us?’ I said no, because I was… I am also a nurse, I just used to help pregnant women do delivery.

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

She added that the terrorists later discovered that she was a nurse and attempted to persuade her to remain with them, but she refused.

“But at last, when they got to know, they wanted to keep me, that I should stay with them, but I said no. I want to come back,” she said.

Why terrorists attacked Woro

Salihu said the terrorists told the captives that they were fighting to enforce what they described as Allah’s will.

According to her, the attackers opposed Nigeria’s constitutional democracy and wanted the communities to live according to Islamic law.

“They always say that they are working for Allah’s work. That they want us to work with what Allah said.

“That all what we are doing, we are doing constitution, democracy—that it is not good. That they want us to work with Quran,” she said.

She added that the attackers killed several people in the community, including her two brothers.

“They even killed my brothers—my senior brother and my junior brother. And those… they said it’s because of my dad, because my dad did not allow them to come to our village,” she said.

Salihu explained that her father had resisted the terrorists’ attempt to enter the community and had brought soldiers to protect the village.

However, she said the attackers struck after the soldiers had left.

“They just came to our house that day, suddenly, and people came to our house. The way I saw them, I knew that yes, they are Boko Haram, because the way they dressed, I knew that they are Boko Haram,” she said.

No rape or sexual assault, victim says

Asked whether the captives were subjected to rape or sexual assault, Salihu said there was no such incident during their captivity.

“No, no case of rape or sexual assault, no,” she said.

The victims were among 176 women and children abducted during the February 3 attack on Woro and neighbouring Nuku communities.

They regained their freedom on Wednesday after nearly six months in captivity.

The Kwara State Government said 13 children died while in captivity, while 12 other abductees remained behind.

The rescued victims were received by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in Ilorin on Friday.

AbdulRazaq commiserated with families who lost loved ones during the ordeal and thanked President Bola Tinubu and the military hierarchy for their roles in securing the victims’ release.

The governor also visited a general hospital where 14 rescued victims, including three women who gave birth while in captivity, were receiving medical treatment.