Boko Haram turned us to slaves for refusing to convert to Islam – Escapee, Fayina
Boko Haram victim, Fayina Akilawus, has narrated her ordeal in the camp of the dreaded criminals and how she managed to escape after several attempts.
She disclosed how Boko Haram members tried to convert her and other Christians in the camp to Islam and turned them to slaves after they refused.
Fayina spent four years in the camp of Boko Haram before she finally escaped on her fifth attempt, according to her, through the help of a Fulani woman who sells drinks to them at the terrorists’ den.
“They wanted us to convert to Islam and we said no, we will not convert,” she told Arise News.
“It is their own law that if you do not convert to Islam, you become a slave.”
Asked what being a slave entails in the camp, she said “Yeah, because one, I’m a Christian, and they just want us to be Muslims and if we don’t want to convert to Islam, we’ll be slaves.
“And if we don’t convert, we’ll still be Christians but we’ll be their slave to do some house chores and other things for them. We’re carrying wood, fetching water and all that.
“They normally come to our place and preach, they’ll preach for us. They’re preaching for us that they want us to become a better people in life and all that, by joining their religion.
We refused for nine months before they started separating us. Then they will separate each and every one of us to go to their oga houses to become their slaves there.
“The night when we arrived [their camp] on Saturday night, around seven o’clock, me and Aunty [Jumat] tried to escape.
“So we escaped that very day, throughout the night, around 7pm we walked throughout the night till morning. But when we heard a baby’s cry, we thought it was these Fulani cattle rearers.
“We never knew that they have a family, including children within them. So we now heard the baby’s voice. We just said Salamalekun and entered inside.
“When we entered inside, the people now came out and saw us and started shouting, because their way of dressing and ours is different. So they were shouting, ‘who are those people?’”
She said they were recaptured and taken back to the camp and were beaten all along the far journey, “They beat the hell out of us.”
