Surviving Boko Haram: rebuilding shattered lives

Boko Haram began as a small group of radicals in the capital of the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno in the early 2000s. It grew from an arguably non-violent group to become an internationally recognised and feared terrorist group.

It has similar ideological and strategic aims to groups such as the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Daesh. In March 2015 it briefly pledged allegiance to Daesh. In that year, the Global Terrorism Index ranked the group the most deadly terrorist group in the world.

Boko Haram believes that Nigeria is run by infidels and apostates. It rejects Nigeria's system of governance because it is not based on Boko Haram's interpretation of Islamic law. They want to impose their own version of the law on the country.

The words Boko Haram are from Nigeria's Hausa language, spoken by the mostly Muslim group that is dominant in the northern half of the country. Despite their complex etymology, the words Boko Haram have come to mean "Western education is forbidden."

Much of the world learned of Boko Haram after the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria's Chibok in 2014. That terrorist act spurred the worldwide "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign.

The effects of Boko Haram are felt throughout Nigeria and across the region. Among other victims, women and children have been abducted, killed and even used as suicide bombers.

TRT World's Adesewa Josh has this special series of reports from Nigeria on survivors of Boko Haram's abuse.

Dapchi girls

People in a village in northern Nigerian say they're afraid to let their children go to school after Boko Haram abducted more than a hundred girls in February 2018.

The Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi in Yobe state was closed following the attack, which reminded many of Boko Haram's kidnapping of 276 Chibok girls in 2014.

Aliyu Mabu, vice principal of the school, who helped some of the girls escape when Boko Haram stormed the school is concerned that most of them may never return to their studies.

Rebuilding Bama

Over 100,000 people were displaced when Boko Haram captured the town of Bama, a major international trading hub in northeast Nigeria, in September 2014.

After the liberation of the town in March 2015, residents began to gradually return.

But even today, residents who have come back say it no longer feels like home, as they struggle to rebuild their lives.

Hunger hits internally displaced people

The Nigerian military drove Boko Haram from their "capital" Gwoza over three years ago in March 2015.

But the cruelty of Boko Haram is still having an effect.

Mothers struggle to find food for their babies, leaving many of them severely malnourished, and death is common.

A camp in Gwoza for internally displaced persons (IDPs) already has some 10,000 residents, with more arriving every day.

They depend on aid to survive. But as UNICEF says, there is simply not enough food to go around.

30,000 women and children rescued in two years

The Nigerian military says it has rescued 30,000 women and children from Boko Haram in the last two years. Many of them live in detention camps. But some say they would rather be with their families.

Authorities say that women associated with Boko Haram are safer in the camps than in their communities, as they are often discriminated against and sometimes killed if they return home.

 Survivors earn a living

Northern Nigerian local officials say there are more than ten thousand survivors of Boko Haram attacks in Borno state alone.

Some of the unfortunate Boko Haram survivors watched their family and friends die in the attacks. Now they say this skills acquisition class is their way of learning to live again.

A programme is helping people survivors to find new jobs and has helped more than a hundred survivors.

But thousands more are left on their own.