Released Chibok Girl Found Four Months Pregnant

Miss Susan Ishaya, one of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls released this week by Boko Haram insurgents, has been discovered to be four months pregnant, confirming the fears of the public that the female students who were kidnapped more than five months ago are being raped and physically abused.


Chairman of the Chibok community in Abuja, Tsambido Hosea Abana, confirmed the pregnancy yesterday through a telephone interview with THISDAY, adding that the insurgents were merciless to the point of sexually violating and impregnating the innocent girl.
Susan was discovered on Wednesday morning near a police station in Mubi, Adamawa State, after she was brought there by villagers who found her near Biu in Borno State.

She had been thrown out of a moving vehicle by her captors and was left to wander for two days before she was discovered by the villagers.
Abana confirmed that the girl was among the abducted Chibok girls and had been moved from Mubi to the Adamawa State police headquarters in Yola.

He revealed that the girl was psychologically traumatised as there were signs of physical abuse on her body, adding that he believed the insurgents subjected their captives to severe sexual and physical abuse.

"Susan is actually one of our daughters abducted from Government Secondary School in Chibok. She was found in Mubi after she was dumped by her abductors and was later taken to Yola, and it is proved that the girl is four months pregnant but psychologically and physically traumatised," he stated.

Abana urged the authorities handling Susan's case to expedite action by sending her to a good hospital for proper medical attention.
He also called on the federal government to step up efforts towards freeing the girls and re-uniting them with their families.

Uncertainty over Identity
However, there was a fresh twist to the discovery of Susan when Abana later informed THISDAY that the girl was psychologically unstable, adding that her true identity had not yet been determined.
Abana explained that records of the girl who initially identified herself as Susan Ishaya could not be traced, but said some Chibok parents had been detailed to the police state command in Yola to identify her.

"I don't know her actual condition since I didn't see her in person. However, I can confirm to you that she has psychological problems. She couldn't even answer questions before breaking into tears. She has been given various names," he said.
Abana added that she initially identified herself as Susan Ishaya, "but we couldn't trace a name like that. We have Susan Yakubu and Hana Ishaya, so we have detailed some Chibok parents to Yola to carry out proper identification".

To verify his statement, THISDAY on checking the list of the schoolgirls, who were kidnapped from Chibok, discovered that the name Susan Ishaya was not on the list. The names close to hers were Susan Yakubu and Hanna Ishaya.

THISDAY had exclusively released the names of all the girls and their photographs in June this year.
Also, Enoch Mark, an elder from the kidnapped schoolgirls' hometown of Chibok told AFP that the name the girl gave was not among the 219 missing. "Her name is not on the list so we don't know," said Mark, who had seen the girl in Yola.

"She's in trauma. She couldn't speak. We picked her up in the bush. We suspected that she was one of the abducted girls. But she's not from Chibok. The police officer made a mistake."
When THISDAY visited the police clinic in a Yola police barracks, where Susan was being attended to, sources at the clinic confirmed that she was admitted on Wednesday night and was receiving treatment at the clinic.

But when efforts were made by our correspondent to see Susan, he was told that the girl had been taken to the police headquarters yesterday morning for further action. Another source said because of Susan's "fragile condition", she might be transferred to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yola.
"The young girl has suffered a lot and she needs proper medical attention. I believe the police will send her to FMC, Yola, or even fly her out of the country for proper medical attention," he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Michael Haa, said he could not comment on the matter as the matter had been taken over by the military since the state is under a state of emergency. However, efforts to reach the military authorities in Yola proved abortive.

BBOG Group Heartbroken
Reacting to Susan's condition yesterday, the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group said it was heartbroken at the battered state of the young girl.
Susan's release has brought the number of the Chibok girls still in captivity to 218. Speaking for the group, BBOG leader and former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, said they were going through a bittersweet moment at the return of Susan.