A Boko Haram survivor, Fayina Akilawus, has shared a harrowing account of her years in captivity, detailing how militants subjected her and other Christian captives to forced labor after they refused to abandon their faith.
Speaking about her experience, Fayina explained that members of the terror group repeatedly pressured Christians in the camp to convert to Islam. Those who declined, she said, were treated as slaves and compelled to serve the fighters. She revealed that she spent four years under Boko Haram control before finally securing her freedom on her fifth escape attempt, aided by a Fulani woman who sold local drinks inside the camp.
“They kept insisting that we must convert, but we refused,” she told Arise News. “Under their rules, anyone who does not convert automatically becomes a slave.”
She described slavery in the camp as being forced to carry out exhausting domestic and manual tasks. According to her, captives were made to fetch water, gather firewood, and perform household chores, while still being subjected to constant religious preaching aimed at breaking their resistance.
Fayina recalled that after about nine months of refusal, the captives were separated and distributed to the homes of Boko Haram commanders, where they served as domestic workers. She also recounted an early escape attempt on the night they were first taken to the camp, which ended in recapture after they unknowingly walked into a settlement linked to the insurgents.
“They caught us again and beat us severely on the way back,” she said.
Explaining how she eventually escaped, Fayina said persistent prayers and determination kept her going. Her breakthrough came when she convinced a Fulani woman who regularly sold kunu and nunu in the area to secretly help her flee, despite the risks involved. After initially refusing out of fear for her life, the woman later agreed and assisted in Fayina’s successful escape.
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