The BBC Hausa service has aired an interview with two young Nigerian females who managed to escape from Boko Haram captivity and later gave a graphic account of the dreaded sect's operations.
Janet's Story
Janet, 19, narrated how a group of terrorists invaded the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State and started slaughtering people in front of her. Then, they ordered the girl to slit one man's throat. She refused, and the group leader's wife did it instead.
Janet was taken to a house where she cooked for the terrorists. When they went to fight soldiers in Gwosa, they took her with them. She says she could hear bullets flying over her head in all directions.
The Boko Haram insurgents usually hide in the hills and caves, making it difficult for the Army to spot them. Janet says she saw Nigerian Army solders a few times, but they failed to spot the terrorists' hideouts, which were located mainly along the Liman Kara and Gwoza axis.
The insurgents would kill persons who worked for the Government, Janet said, also the girls who used chemical hair treatment.
Before engaging in fights with the military, the terrorists also have a habit of digging holes in the ground and burying their dead.
Janet says she knew almost everyone in the group of her captors, as they came from her home area.
She was able to escape from her captors after feigning illness. As the insurgents suspected she had AIDS, they allowed her to seek medical attention, and she was able to break free.
Liatu's Story
The BBC Hausa service also broadcast the story of another survivor, 23-year-old Liatu, who was captured by the terrorists last year. The insurgents killed all the Muslims working for the Nigerian Government in the area of Liatu's residence, as they said they had warned the Muslims against working for the authorities before.
She spent 12 days with her captors in Sambisa forest, Borno State, after they captured her on her way to her native village. She said the insurgents had barricaded the road near Bama Bridge.
On the 11th day of her captivity, they approached her and said there was a man who liked her and would like to marry her, so she should convert to Islam.
Liatu narrates how the terrorists slit throats of about 50 people in front of her, both men and women - especially the men who didn't agree to fight on Boko Haram side. She says those who tried to escape were usually shot, but the insurgents rarely used the guns, preferring knives instead.
She tells the story of her escape: one day, a fellow captive suggested running away using one of the Boko Haram vehicles in the camp. Six people, including Liatu, agreed to try and stole a Volkswagen Golf. The terrorists chased them on motorbikes, shooting at the car. However, they got lost when the group got close to Bama town. The former captives had to leave the car and continue walking on foot as there was a curfew imposed. Liatu says, only then she realised that three people in the backseat of the vehicle had been shot dead.
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