Boko Haram, a terrorist group in Nigeria, has reportedly kidnapped 319 women who were living in camps for people displaced by violence in Ngala, a town in Borno State.
The abduction occurred when the women went to collect firewood in the nearby bush for cooking and selling purposes.
According to sources, the insurgents surrounded them and took away the young girls and some boys, leaving behind older women.
Three of the abducted girls managed to escape and told of being taken to a bush close to a village in Chad before fleeing and returning to Ngala after the insurgents fell asleep.
The incident highlights the difficult conditions faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region.
Many IDPs rely on gathering firewood to earn money because the food provided in the camps is often not enough to sustain them.
Despite warnings from security forces to stay in safe areas, economic pressure pushes many IDPs to venture into risky areas to make a living.
Another source from the security said they always warned the IDPs against going to some areas in the bush for fear of attack.
“We always warn them to stay within safe areas, but it’s the economic pressure that forces most of them to go. They have no means of livelihood other than cutting off the tree for sale.
“A small measure of corn flour is sold at N2,200 where can they get the money to buy? We can’t stop them if we can’t feed them,” he said.
This abduction is one of the largest since the notorious kidnapping of 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok in 2014.
It underscores the ongoing threat posed by insurgent groups like Boko Haram in the region and the challenges faced by those displaced by violence.
