Victims of violence in north central Nigeria have told The Pillar that they believe the Nigerian government will not bring any aid to them as their communities continue to face violence from marauders who have burned villages and crops, stolen cattle, and kidnapped people for ransom.
In Nigeria’s Niger state, a survivor of violence and abduction in one community told The Pillar about a March attack on her village, in which she and dozens of other people were kidnapped.
Abduction victims in Nigeria declined to show their faces to a camera, for fear of retribution.
The survivor, a 36-year-old mother of two who requested anonymity for her safety, recalled that “this year, precisely on Tuesday, 14 March, it was rumored that armed bandits would attack our village. We didn’t take it seriously as we went about our normal business.”
“On that fateful day, I went to fetch firewood. When I came to offload the first batch, I noticed my husband, who took our son to school, had brought him back. When I asked why, he said, there are fears that bandits are on their way to our community.”
“As we were planning to escape, we ran to the river to fetch water in case our children became thirsty while we are hiding. While we were there, they came and searched the entire village and found no one; by then, we were hiding in the surrounding bushes,” she said.