Escaped Boko Haram Victim Exposes How Christians Were Forced to Convert, Turned Into Slaves

• Boko Haram survivor Fayina Akilawus has narrated how she spent four years in captivity, was forced into slavery for refusing religious conversion, and escaped on her fifth attempt with the help of a Fulani woman.

A Boko Haram survivor, Fayina Akilawus, has recounted her harrowing experience in the camp of the terrorist group, detailing how she was held for four years, forced into servitude, and repeatedly pressured to abandon her Christian faith before eventually escaping.

Speaking in an interview with Arise News, Fayina said Boko Haram fighters attempted to convert her and other Christian captives to Islam and declared them slaves when they refused.

“They wanted us to convert to Islam and we said no, we will not convert,” she said.
“It is their own law that if you do not convert to Islam, you become a slave.”

She explained that captives who declined conversion were forced to carry out domestic labour, including fetching water, gathering firewood, and performing household chores for the insurgents.

“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,” Fayina said.

According to her, Boko Haram members initially preached to the captives for several months, attempting to persuade them to join their religion. When these efforts failed, the captives were separated and assigned to individual fighters’ homes as servants.

Fayina revealed that she attempted to escape multiple times, with the first attempt occurring on the very night she arrived at the camp alongside another captive identified as Jumat. The attempt failed after they unknowingly encountered Boko Haram families, including women and children, and were recaptured.

“They beat the hell out of us,” she said, recalling the punishment that followed their failed escape.

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After four years in captivity, Fayina said she finally succeeded on her fifth attempt, with the assistance of a Fulani woman who sold local drinks such as kunu and nunu in the area.

“There’s this other woman, this Fulani woman, who used to sell Kunu and Nunu in that area. So I met her and said, ‘you used to help people to escape, we want to escape,’” she narrated.

Although the woman initially refused out of fear for her life, Fayina said she eventually agreed and helped her flee the camp.

Boko Haram has operated in northern Nigeria for more than a decade, leaving thousands dead and displacing millions of civilians, while many others remain traumatised by abductions and prolonged captivity.