By Zakariya Musa
Talatu Ali has been reunited with her family, along with three of the four children she gave birth to during her 10 years of captivity. She was rescued by the Nigerian military, from the Gavva area of Gwoza Local Government, Borno State, during an operation in which 21 people were rescued including women and children who were mostly trapped in the area by Boko Haram. Their story was either not reported or under reported by media over the years, due to inaccessibility.
A prayer request from EYN Media: Please keep on praying that more people like Talatu Ali and her children will find their way to freedom, and above all that God brings back peace to affected areas like Gwoza, Askira, Damboa, and Chibok among others.
In related news
The Dille community in northeast Nigeria was attacked twice recently, leaving one person with bullet wounds. The community bordering the Sambisa Forest, an area where the insurgents have hidden from the authorities, now has lost three of its seven local congregations of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). The people continue to attempt to protect their ancestral land.nother community in Chibok called Ntsiha was re-attacked as well, and people fled for their lives leaving their houses, shops, and other properties to be burned or vandalized.
On a good note, a church marriage was conducted for the first time in 11 years of displacement from Bayan Dutse in the Gwoza Local Government area of Borno State. We also appreciate God for the successful meeting of the EYN Ministers Advisory Board that was held this quarter. The EYN National Executive Committee met on Sept. 13. The EYN Girls Brigade held a week-long annual camp where young girls converged on the EYN Headquarters at Kwarhi.
Talatu Ali’s story
Ali’s father had fled for his life in 2014, when all of his family members were captured. Later, his wife died in the hands of the terrorists. Four of her brothers were rescued 5 years ago, along with their grandmother, who is in her 70s.
Ali said it was difficult to escape from her captors. Many people were killed in their presence when victims, both Muslim and Christian, tried to escape. The captors would gather everyone in an open place when they wanted to execute their victims, and this induced terror in the people. She and her children are currently in a state of trauma and distress, and have required immediate assistance as she joined her displaced family in Adamawa State.
She shared how they were rescued. “We came down from the mountain to farm in a place called Vakvada. The soldiers came on foot and surrounded us. They asked us to go to Ngoshe, from there to Gwoza, and finally to Pulka, where we stayed for some days before we left.”
Ali said she had been married to a man called Malam Idrisa, an Arabic teacher in the village, who is still in the mountains of the Gavva area.
— Zakariya Musa is head of Media for Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).
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