Ibrahim fled his home in Gwoza, northeast Nigeria, in
August last year, when invading Boko Haram fighters took
over the town as part of the Islamist group’s self-declared
caliphate.
The businessman lost his home, cars, money and his
brother, who was shot dead as they fled the carnage,
spending 14 days on the road and barely eating.
He now lives with his two wives and 13 children in a camp
for displaced people 130 kilometres (80 miles) away in the
Borno state capital, Maiduguri.
The family relies on handouts for food and his children
cannot go to school because they can’t afford the fees.
With more than 2.5 million people displaced by the
violence in Nigeria‘s northeast since the start of the Boko
Haram insurgency in 2009, Ibrahim’s story is just one of
many testimonies by survivors of the militants’ macabre
attacks.
Such stories are often lost in reports of relentless
bombings, deaths and military offensives.
But now, civil society activist Saratu Abiola is trying to
change that through an online resource, to raise
awareness across the world of the devastating human
effects of the conflict.
– Myth-busting –
The accounts of mass killings, rape, abductions, arson and
looting on Abiola’s Testimonial Archive Project (TAP) don’t
make easy reading.
But she said it was vital to record people’s stories of a
conflict that, despite an estimated 17,000 deaths, still fails
to grab headlines at home and abroad.
“This is a small nation-building project,” Abiola told AFP by
phone from Nigeria‘s financial hub, Lagos, some 1,000
kilometres from the epicentre of the violence.
“It is intended to spark dialogue and advocacy on the
humanitarian consequences of the Boko Haram
insurgency by raising awareness through documenting the
horrendous personal experiences of survivors of the
violence.”
The TAP, which has now been running for more than a
year, also aims to dispel many of the myths that have
been created about the conflict.
One argument in the Christian-majority south has been
that the violence in the mainly Muslim north was designed
to scupper Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election chances as
president earlier this year.
“I wanted to project a depoliticised picture of the situation
and put things in clearer perspective, and dispel all the
wrong notions and assumptions a section of the country
had on the violence, which is having devastating impact
on Nigeria,” said Abiola.
International attention on Boko Haram peaked after the
mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok
in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, in April 2014.
Abiola had already decided to act in February that year,
after Boko Haram gunmen slaughtered more than 40 boys
at a boarding school in Buni Yadi, in Yobe state.
She had never been to the northeast, but managed to
make contact with local activists, who then helped begin
the process of meeting survivors of attacks.
– ‘Started a conversation’ –
“At first, a lot of people didn’t want to talk to me because
they were either sceptical of my motive as an outsider or
were scared of reprisals from Boko Haram if they talked,”
she said.
Gradually, stories were gathered and published online at
testimonialarchiveproject.com, providing an insight into
the nature and complexities of the violence.
“A lot of us who don’t live in these areas don’t have an
idea of what the insurgency is all about,” she said.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently said his goal was
to have all IDPs back home by the first anniversary of his
taking office on May 29 next year.
But with towns and villages devastated, that still looks a
tall order.
Of the 2.5 million displaced, more than 2.1 million are in
Nigeria, with the vast majority staying with host families
or relatives.
International agencies have complained that not enough
is being done to assist the displaced, who face poor living
conditions in the camps and frequent outbreaks of
disease.
Since the TAP’s creation, some aid has been sent as well
as donations from private individuals and corporate
bodies.
Security analysts and human rights groups have also
tapped into the project’s growing number of testimonies
for use in their reports.
“There is much more awareness now, but I don’t think that
is enough achievement because our goal is to influence
deliberate government policy on the reintegration of the
displaced, which will lead to the closure of all IDP camps
and settlement of all displaced persons,” she said.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have only started a
conversation, but the goal is far-off,” said Abiola.
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