Amnesty International has said that identifying women and girls rescued from the grip of terrorists as ‘Boko Haram’ wives is stigmatizing.
The Human Rights Organisation disclosed this on Thursday at a press conference in Maiduguri, Borno State, led by the country director, Isa Sunusi.
The organisation said since the inception of Boko Haram in the North East, women and girls have suffered as they are mostly victims of torture, rape and forced marriage, among other inhumane acts.
Sunusi noted that even when they escape from the terrorists’ enclave or are rescued by the military, “they end up in the hands of the military and in some cases, they also experience another round of atrocities.”
He said, “So, the girls and young women in the Northeast suffered horrific abuses in Boko Haram captivity and many survivors were arbitrarily detained and subsequently neglected by the Nigerian authorities.”
The Country Director added, “In the course of our research we discovered that those girls that tried to have contraceptives were severely punished by the insurgents.
“These are the things that we should never forget and we believe that the government should do something.
“The girls that escaped from the insurgents returned to the government control areas, and the crimes that they endured had long-lasting consequences that are specific to their ages and gender, including health implications, lack of access to education as well as stigma and rejection by their families and communities.
“We know that many girls that come back, unfortunately, abducted or trafficked, were called Boko Haram wives when they returned to their communities. That is stigmatization.”
Sunusi called on the Nigerian government to rebuild the lives of girls and women who suffered the atrocities of Boko Haram and the military by providing justice and ensuring that all the atrocities are addressed.
“Based on our research, despite some family unification efforts, the Nigerian government has largely failed to address their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration as required by the Convention for the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the right and welfare of the child, of which Nigeria is a party.
“This neglect is a serious issue which we are here to tell the government to address. We are calling on the Nigerian government to do the right thing and one of the right things they have to do is to make sure that they investigate and bring to justice all those accused of putting these girls through these atrocities,” he said.