Through the Shadows: Zara’s Story

At 17, when most Nigerian girls are getting ready for university life or rounding off their high school education, Zara spends her days nursing four young children in Bama, a community in northeast Nigeria.

Two of the children are biologically hers, born when she was 12 and 14 years respectively. The other two are unaccompanied children who escaped from captivity with her.

For Zara, the saddest chapters of her life unfolded in 2017 when she was abducted in Buduwa, a village sitting on the edge of Sambisa Forest. Zara was only 8 years when she was taken into captivity by a non-state armed group.

The next eight years were brutal for Zara who endured serial child rights violation.

“I was forced into marriage with a commander at the age of 10 and gave birth to my first baby at 12 and the second baby at the age of 14with rigorous child labour and absence of a birth attendant, in addition to limited food for both myself and the babies,’’ she recalls her horror.

Children in northeast Nigeria are among the most vulnerable in the world. Sadly, they are often abducted, recruited and abused by armed groups along the lines of conflict.

Zara’s experience in captivity mirrored the horrific child rights violations that abducted children go through in communities severely affected by protracted conflict.

According to the United Nations, 2023 recorded the most child rights violations so far with the abduction of 859 children since 2014; the recruitment and use (821) and sexual violence (439) followed.

“Children in Nigeria and particularly in the north-east are living in high insecurity due to the presence of armed groups. Children should never trade their hopes and dreams for fear and tears. I urged all armed groups and particularly JAS and ISWAP to release all children associated with them and to immediately end and prevent all grave violations against children.  International humanitarian law applies to all parties to the conflict, and I call for its immediate respect and implementation” stated, Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

In 2024, Zara escaped from captivity during a clash between two rival non-state armed groups. Six days of trekking with her children and two other unaccompanied infants, led her to Government Forces where she was assisted with food and water.

She was in turn handed over to officials of the Borno State Government in Bama where she was enrolled into multiple support programmes at the GSSS IDP Camp. For Zara, the opportunity to be part of a social and economic reintegration programme was the second chance she needed to heal and build a new pathway in life.

“Life at the GSSS IDP camp was initially difficult considering my age and having to care for four children alone. This is in addition to stigma from community members, lack of food and other humanitarian assistance which affected me.”

Zara’s painful experiences and needs also made her a suitable candidate for the reintegration programme supported by the Borno state Ministry of Education, Science Technology and Innovation and UNICEF.

“It was a difficult situation, but UNICEF gave us referrals for food and nutrition support. I was also enrolled into a play and vocational skills group at the Government’s Safe Space in GSSS IDP camp Bama and into life skills and vocational training at the Zainab Gimba Second Chance for Women/Girls Skills and Entrepreneurship Centre in Bama,” she added.

Zara also benefitted from counselling and creative arts sessions, sporting activities and peace mentoring.

“Now I feel confident in myself, I relate freely with my family members and other people in my community. I am helping some of my friends that I lived with within the community about coping mechanism and business orientation,” she said.

Funded through the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, the vocational and reintegration programmes provide practical skills for adolescents and children affected by armed conflict to develop coping mechanisms and strengthen their resilience. Life is now on the cusp for Zara, who savours her freedom, with dignity and purpose. Enrolled in various skilling programs, she values her monthly training transport allowance to trade local goods as a parallel source of income.