Members of the Chibok community under the aegis of Kibaku Area
Development Association, KADA, yesterday said the rescued Chibok girl,
Amina Ali, has no husband.
Chairman of KADA, Tsambido Abana, while speaking with reporters, said
Mohammed Hayyatu who was rescued alongside Amina should be referred to
as a sexual exploiter not a husband because Amina had no husband before
she was abducted.
Abana said, “We condemn, in strong terms, the calling of Mohammad
Hayyatu as Boko Haram husband of our daughter; rather, upon confirmation
by the Nigerian military, he should be referred to as ‘a Boko Haram
sexual exploiter’.
“Amina had no husband and whoever that was rescued with her should
not be referred to as her husband for any reason. They should be treated
separately until Amina is fully rehabilitated.
“We will not support discussion with the government or any agency of government in company of Mohammad Hayyatu.
“We are strongly calling on government to set up a team of expert
investigators to probe Mohammad Hayyatu’s involvement in Boko Haram that
led him to be the sexual exploiter of our daughter Amina so as to allow
the law to take its proper course. He should be treated based on what
investigations will reveal, not to conclude from the start that he was
also an abductee. Even if he was also abducted and forced to marry her,
he should not be referred to in any way as her husband, because there
was no consent.
“All stakeholders, parents, Chibok Community, BBOG etc should be
involved in any process of discussing and relevant actions relating to
Amina and her colleagues that we are expecting their rescue soonest, for
the purpose of transparency and confidence building.
“We are insisting Amina Ali’s mother/guardian and the Parents’
Association Chairman, Mr. Yakubu Nkeki, should be part of the decisions
that concern her well being.
“We are asking for a safe haven to be provided for Amina, her mum and
her baby. A safe home that is controlled by her family with the
reasonable amount of security support but not overbearing.
“The Chibok community wishes to be involved in any further decisions
on our daughters. We are dissatisfied with the approach of the military,
and the government in shutting us out of verification process. We
therefore refer government and its agencies to the Verification,
Authentication and Reintegration System that BBOG designed with the
participation of our community. It lays out the proper process for
handling the return of our daughters. That was not done in this case and
we would not want any recurrence.”