Ten years after Boko Haram gunmen abducted his daughter from her school in the Nigerian town of Chibok, Yama Bullum feels as if he has lost her once again.His daughter, Jinkai Yama, was one of 276 girls kidnapped from the secondary school in on the night of 14 April 2014 by the Islamist fighters.
These couples now reside in the city of Maiduguri – Borno’s capital, 125km north of the remote town of Chibok – in housing organised by the state’s governor Babagana Umaru Zulum. Like a number of other Chibok parents, Mr Bullum is disturbed by what seems to be the Nigerian government’s approval of marriages between their rescued daughters and the men who abducted them.'Reckless attacks' - UK, France condemn Iran's strikes on Israel
The state appears to be grappling with the dilemma of respecting the girls’ wishes while fulfilling the desires of their parents. “He finished deradicalisation before we were allowed to stay together. The government welcomed us well, gave us food, shelter, everything.” After going through weeks of rehabilitation there, the men are reintegrated into society under the government’s ongoing amnesty programme for repentant Boko Haram members. This has so far processed about 160,000 people, according to Mr Zulum.
One 16-year-old told me back in 2016 that if she had had a gun, she would have shot the soldiers who came to rescue her from captivity. But the situation of the Chibok girls stands out because of the government’s active support for them and their husbands staying together.The chair of the Association of Parents of the Missing Girls from Chibok says he finds himself torn between the grievances of the parents and the rights of the young women.“Me, myself, I am a freedom fighter and I want them to be free from the Sambisa Forest regardless of the situation they find themselves when they come out, whether Muslim or married or not.