I lost both my parents as a child and was living with my grandmother in the village of Marte. But I schooled here in Maiduguri at the Federal Government College. Suddenly, Boko Haram attacked Maiduguri communities, which led to the closure of some schools, including mine. I then went back to Marte.
A few months after the school shut down, Boko Haram also attacked my village. They forcefully took me, together with other young girls and my grandmother, to their base in a village called Fada. The journey took some days. Many captives died along the way due to severe hunger, stress and tiredness. During the raid, many were also killed due to disobedience.
We spent over two months in Fada before suddenly receiving intelligence that the military planned to invade the village. I was unmarried during our stay in Fada. I faced severe hunger, but I survived on different leaves and grasses. I was tasked to look for some grass with my grandmother when the military invaded the village on a Wednesday morning. Luckily, the military took my grandmother and me on our way back from the forest.
They brought us back to Maiduguri alongside some young girls and interrogated us seriously at Giwa Barracks for a month before I had the opportunity to talk to a soldier with my grandmother, who explained that I was a student of Federal Government College.
They took me back to my school, which had resumed classes when I was with the insurgents. At the school, the head teacher and principal received me and assured the soldiers that I was their student. I repeated a class. My grandmother had hidden some money, and she used it to rent a house and start a business. She supported my education, and I was able to graduate with flying colours.
My grandmother tried as much as possible to see that I further my education since I had passed my exams, including UTME. She struggled a lot to see if I could join the university that year. Luckily, JAMB offered me admission to study Radiography at the University of Maiduguri’s College of Medical Sciences. I am currently in my final year.
My grandmother didn’t give up despite all the struggles that came with the Boko Haram insurgency. With her support, I had the opportunity to achieve my goal and to see my dream come to reality.
As narrated by: Fatima Adamu (Maiduguri, Nigeria).
This snippet is published as part of a series, The Day Boko Haram Attacked.
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