Boko Haram: Women abducted from police convoy speak in new video

A video has surfaced showing the women believed to have been kidnapped from a police convoy in Borno state on June 21. Boko Haram insurgents had attacked the convoy conveying a corpse of a deceased policewoman to Adamawa state.

A number of officers were reported missing. In a recent video, Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram sect, said the abducted officers had become slaves. But the Borno police command denied Shekau’s claim, saying there was no police woman in Boko Haram’s captivity.

But in a video obtained by Sahara Reporters, one Adam Gomdia, who did not introduce herself as a police officer, said five of the women were public servants who she described as breadwinners in their families.

“Today, here we are, everyone has seen us, our relatives have seen us, government, our youngsters have all seen us, this is not a lie, we have been abducted for 30 days,” said Gomdia who introduced herself as a lecturer at the federal college of fisheries, Baga.

Deborah Philipus, another woman who spoke in the video, said the insurgents have taken care of them by treating their injuries and providing other necessities for them. “We are grateful to you (Boko Haram). But the government of Nigeria should not say we were not abducted, indeed we were abducted,” Philipus said.