The Chibok Story
Saratu Dauda had been kidnapped. It was 2014, she was 16, and she was in a truck packed with her classmates heading into the bush in northeastern Nigeria, a member of the terrorist group Boko Haram at the wheel. The girls’ boarding school in Chibok, miles behind them, had been set on fire. Dauda would spend nine years in captivity.
Kidnapped from their dormitory exactly 10 years ago, the 276 captives known as the Chibok Girls were catapulted to fame by Michelle Obama, by churches that took up the mostly Christian students’ cause and by campaigners using the slogan “Bring Back Our Girls.” Their lives have taken wildly different turns since the abduction. Some escaped almost immediately; 103 were released a few years later after negotiations. A dozen or so now live abroad, including in the U.S. As many as 82 are still missing, perhaps killed or still held hostage.
Read here.
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 10, 2024: Activities and post-Sallah celebrations around Shehu Palace, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state, where the mass kidnapping of girls by an insurgent group called Boko Haram occurred 10 years ago in Chibok, a town nearby. This led to the 'Bring Back Our Girls' campaign. Ten years later, all the girls are yet to be freed, but life goes on in Borno state. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 11, 2024: Portrait of Saratu Dauda; 26, in Maiduguri. Saratu was abducted at age 16 on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram, then married off to one of the terrorists. This was because she was given the option to either marry or be a slave at the camp. She escaped from the camp in May 2023. Ten years after her abduction, she now lives in a government-provided shelter. Saratu is now a mother of three with a five-month pregnancy. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times
MAIDUGURI, NGA - April 10, 2024: Activities and post-Sallah celebrations around Shehu Palace, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state, where the mass kidnapping of girls by an insurgent group called Boko Haram occurred 10 years ago in Chibok, a town nearby. This led to the 'Bring Back Our Girls' campaign. Ten years later, all the girls are yet to be freed, but life goes on in Borno state. CREDIT: Taiwo Aina for New York Times