Tegina pupils: Our captors flogged us daily, made us sleep on bare ground

The just released children of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina, Niger State who were abducted by bandits for about three months, have said their captors mostly fed them with rice and kunnu and flogged daily.

One of the pupils, Furera Isah, who spoke about their experiences at the hands of their captors, said they enjoyed no comfort whatsoever throughout the period as they were made to sleep on bare ground and were ceaselessly beaten by rain.

She said, “The months we spent there were not comfortable at all. Our lives were not sweet. They beat us all the time. Every time, they call us at night to beat us.

“As for food, they gave us rice and kunnu. We usually ate three times a day. They did not starve us. But they beat us every time.

“They allowed us to pray. We slept in a shabby place. The rain usually beats us whenever it falls.”

Furera recalled that their captors made them to trek for four days after they were abducted, saying that none of them was carried on the bandits’ motorcycles.

“After they carried us from the school, we walked very far. We spent four days on the road. Even when we were tired, they beat us and forced us to walk.”

Another pupil said that none of them was assaulted or molested.

“They did not touch us; they only beat us. They flogged us every day,” he said.

Medical personnel confirmed that they discovered a lot of marks on the bodies of the children, which was evidence that they were beaten continuously.