- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 13,851
- Points
- 113
https://truthnigeria.com/2024/05/boko-haram-grabs-land-of-10000-christians-in-chibok-since-2021/
An unreported calamity has fallen on the embattled Chibok community, site of the government school for girls that Boko Haram terrorists attacked 10 years ago, shocking the world. It wasn’t long before First Lady Michelle Obama herself led the cry “Bring back our girls!”
The good news from the Nigerian army is that since the beginning of this year, 386 captives of Boko Haram (only some of whom were Chibok girls) have been rescued from the desert-like Sambisa Forest. In recent months, a trickle of the remaining Chibok girls have been rescued from Boko Haram as the terrorist refuges in the Lake Chad area collapse under army pressure.
But that good news is belied by the fact that some of the parents and relatives of the kidnapped Chibok girls are being driven off their ancestral lands by Boko Haram. The land grabs, which started in 2021, have happened under the blind eyes of state- and federal authorities, according to residents interviewed by TruthNigeria.
Kibaku Christians Targeted for Replacement by Muslims
[IMG alt="“Bring Back Our Land!” Mr. Yakubu Nkeki, the President of the Association of Parents of Kidnapped Chibok Girls. credit: Mike Odeh James."]https://i0.wp.com/truthnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/YakubuNkeki.png?resize=696%2C595&quality=80&ssl=1[/IMG]“Bring Back Our Land!” Mr. Yakubu Nkeki, the President of the Association of Parents of Kidnapped Chibok Girls. credit: Mike Odeh James.
The 30,000 people living in Chibok, chiefly of the Kibaku ethnic group, are predominantly Christian and have faced forced displacement, land confiscation, and threats of death or forced conversion to Islam.
More than 10,000 Kibaku Christians have been driven off their lands by Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State in West Africa Province), according to Mr. Yakubu Nkeki, the President of the Association of Parents of Kidnapped Chibok Girls.
“This eviction of Christians from their ancestral lands started around March 2021 when Boko Haram started confiscating Christian lands and giving it out to Muslims,” Nkeki said.
“The affected villages were once home to thriving Christian communities, but now they are largely deserted. The terrorists have confiscated the farmlands and reallocated them to Muslims, leaving the displaced Christians without a source of livelihood,” Nkeki told TruthNigeria correspondents in an exclusive chat on May 12, 2024.
Residents speak of mass expulsion and intimidation
Residents of Chibok town explained that natives of their outlying villages have suffered mass expulsion by Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP. A Chibok farmer told TruthNigeria he was evicted from his Takulashi farm on December 15, 2023.ISWAP members came to the communities of Takulashi and Mbulakodiga, asking “who were Christians?” according to Adamu Taro, 44. After getting their answer, they ordered locals to leave or face instant death. “Four hundred people then left and went to live with relatives. Immediately, their lands were given to Muslims,” Taro said in an exclusive chat to TruthNigeria.
“Many Kibaku Christians who refused to leave were killed or kidnapped on their way to their farms,” Taro went on to say. “If a Christian goes to a farm, a Boko Haram will appear with guns and threaten the Christians to either leave or be killed,” Taro said.
Another resident of Chibok, Magareth David Yamma (a pseudonym. Yamma said publishing her true name could be fatal), one of the mothers of the abducted Chibok girls, said to TruthNigeria, “Boko Haram terrorists are surrounding us and our communities; they are gradually pushing Christians from the surrounding villages while resettling the villages with Muslims; as a result, there is hunger.”
“After losing my daughter to Boko Haram, I am about to lose my ancestral home and farm as well,” Yamma said.
In addition to the displacement and land confiscation, Christians, who make up over 90 percent of Chibok’s population, face other challenges, including limited access to education and healthcare, lack of religious freedom, fear of abduction and psychological trauma.
“We are pleading with TruthNigeria to help us by telling the world our plight,” Yamma added.
