August 2017 Persecution Magazine (3 of 4)

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#BringBackOurGirls
AN ICC EXPOSE
Islam’s abduction, rape, and
forced conversion of Christian girls

BEYOND
THE
HASHTAG
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NIGERIA
By Amy Penn
A series of recorded cellphone calls
between Yama (one of the kidnapped
Chibok girls) and her father.
8:00 PM, APRIL 14, 2014
Yama: Daddy, something bad is happening
in town.
Dauda: Why don’t you flee?
Yama: We are already trapped here.
Dauda: By who?
Yama: We don’t know who they are!
Dauda: Tell me more.
Yama: I can’t…they will kill me…
[Phone call abruptly ends]
11:00 PM, APRIL 14, 2014
Yama: They are taking us away.
Dauda: Which way?
Yama: Towards Damboa.
Dauda: Can you escape?
Yama: No…
[Yama hangs up again]
12:20 AM, APRIL 15, 2014
Yama: They’re loading us into
trucks…
[Yama hangs up]
2:00 AM, APRIL 15, 2014
Yama: They’re taking us out of the
trucks and putting us into a smaller
car.
Dauda: Can’t you run away?
Yama: No, we’re already in the
trucks. They’re covering us with
leaves, I don’t understand this…
[Yama hangs up for the last time]
Yama was 17 when she was abducted
with 275 other girls from a school in
Chibok, Nigeria. She is among the
172 who are still missing.
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Since Boko Haram kidnapped
276 school-age
girls from a school in
Chibok, Nigeria, we’ve
somehow forgotten
about the families.
#BringBackOurGirls
didn’t tell us the struggle
and despair families
felt when they learned
that their daughters were gone. We don’t
know how the families have responded to the
release of their daughters or the frustration
they feel that the girls are not yet home. We
don’t know the agony of some of the families
still waiting for their daughters.
This month, we talked to the parents. This
is their story.
The Parents
Maryamu was among the 276 girls taken
from Chibok on April 14, 2014.
Wavi is Maryamu’s father. He told ICC,
“The night they were abducted, we [the family]
heard gun shots so we fled to the bush,”
trusting that their daughter would be safe
behind the school’s walls. “The next day, we
returned and one girl told us that our girls had
been abducted. Maryamu was among them.”
We asked Wavi what he and his family felt
after they learned of Maryamu’s kidnapping.
“Our hearts were grieved,” Wavi responded.
“But we declared that God was alive; we will
be patient.”
Musa, the father of 16-year-old Palmata,
told us, “I went to the school and saw their
clothing scattered, my heart was cut. I wept
profusely.” Ntakai, Hauwa’s father, remembered
that “the day they were abducted…was
a day of wailing. Since that day, grief overwhelmed
us whenever I see [the schoolgirls’]
friends. For me, I lost my appetite.”
Comfort’s father, Bulus, told us that
“our hearts were so distressed in the house.
Sometimes…her younger siblings would
ask,‘Where is Comfort? How is she?’” The
only answer parents had was, “I don’t know.”
Almost immediately after the kidnapping,
54 of the girls escaped. But since then, recovering
the girls has been a slow process. The
next girl was not discovered until spring 2016,
when Amina Nekeki and her baby were found
wandering outside of Boko Haram’s stronghold.
Her mother, Binta, told us that Amina
was 16 when she was kidnapped. When Binta
saw her daughter for the first time, “I shouted,
‘Amina’ and started crying. Then my daughter
told me not to cry because I saw her alive.”
For the next several months, families waited
and hoped until October 2016, when Boko
Haram released 21 more girls. In May 2017,
Boko Haram traded 82 girls in exchange
for several militants. These releases have
given hope to families, but a month after
their release, families are becoming frustrated
again.
Released…Or Not?
Wavi remembers how he heard of his
daughter’s release. “Later in the night, as I lay
down, my phone rang. I picked it up.” It was
his brother. “What is it?” demanded Wavi.
“By the grace of God, Maryamu is among
them [the 82 freed girls],” replied his brother.
“I couldn’t sleep anymore! I just kept
singing till dawn. Then I went and told my
mother…When we saw her photograph, I
couldn’t eat for joy. It is a thing of happiness.
When one relies on God, He preserves.”
Naomi was the eighth of Yaga and Rebecca’s
ten children. Rebecca told us, “When I heard
that 82 girls were released. I was so thankful
to God…but then I began to doubt if this was
true. ‘Could this really be true?’ I thought to
myself. I was so confused. But I am thankful
to God. So grateful.”
3

Feature Article
ICC staff sat and prayed for a quick
return and healing with parents of
the missing Chibok girls.
Reverend Billi and the other
families believe that the girls
should have been released
and allowed to continue
their education in Christian
schools. “We are unhappy
that the girls are still being
held.”
No one knows why the
government has not released
the girls.
Yaga echoed his wife’s gratitude,
“Now our joy is overwhelming! Like
I should stand and jump up because
of the joy!”
Despite the joy surrounding the
recent release of 82 girls, confusion
still exists.
Reverend Joel Billi, a pastor who
works in Chibok, told us that none
of the girls have been released from
the government’s custody to the parents.
In fact, the girls have never
been home. The government transports
parents to government facilities
where they meet with their daughters
under official supervision.
“Security forces eavesdrop and…
have time limits on family visits…we
are concerned for the girls’ spiritual
well-being,” reveals Rev. Billi. “The
girls are still in captivity because no
one has free access to them.” After
the government administered the
proper medical care, Reverend Billi
and the other families believe that the
girls should have been released and
allowed to continue their education
in Christian schools. “We are unhappy
that the girls are still being held.”
No one knows why the government
has not released the girls. Some
families believe that there is a “skeleton
in the [government’s] closet,”
so they are trying to ensure the girls’
silence. Others worry that the girls
have been brainwashed and could
be sleeper cells for Boko Haram.
Perhaps the government is providing
legitimate medical care or questioning
the girls to see what they know
and don’t know.
This mixture of joy and confusion
haunts the Chibok families whose
girls have been released. As they try
to understand why their daughters
are not at home with them, other
parents, like Dauda, still await their
daughters’ release. Dauda wept as he
told us how his hope crashed when
he learned that his daughter was not a
part of the 82 exchanged girls.
Still Missing
“When the names of the recently
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Feature Article
Some of the 82 Chibok girls who Boko Haram exchanged in May 2017.
freed girls were released and ours
was not among them, we felt distressed.
Pray for us,” Dauda stated.
“There’s nothing we can do. When
we fall sick and visit the hospital,
we are told we have issues with
high blood pressure. I didn’t previously
have issues with high blood
pressure.”
Galang Pogu, Rifkatu’s father,
asserts, that “It is normal for
thoughts to run through our minds
as to why our own daughter has
not been released…we are praying
every day, hoping that God will
release them.”
Some parents don’t have to wonder
what happened to their missing
daughters. They’re taunted about
the girls’ fate. The same phone
that Yama used to call her father,
Dauda, during the kidnapping, is
now in the hands of her captor.
“Till this day, the phone number of
my daughter is still active. We get
calls [from the number] and are
insulted…”
We asked him what kind of calls
he receives. “The man tells me
she [Yama] is his wife, blah, blah,
blah, that’s what he says to me…
this bothers me a lot.”
When we asked Dauda if he had
given Yama’s phone number to the
authorities, he said that “the phone
number has been collected from me
for some investigations, but I don’t
know the position of things…”
Would he ever change the number
to end the torturous calls? “As
long as they are calling from my
daughter’s number, even if I will
be killed…I won’t change my own
phone number.”
What Now?
For the parents of the released
girls, they spend their days in
thanksgiving and gratitude. “We
are grateful to missionary organizations
who came [to our village]…We
are so thankful a thousand
times. They kept praying for
us, sympathized and encouraged
us; we are grateful,” rejoiced
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“Till this day, the phone number of my
daughter is still active. We get calls [from
the number] and are insulted…”
– DAUDA, FATHER OF MISSING CHIBOK GIRL
Bulus Bwata.
Many families also thanked the
Nigerian government and President
Buhari for their efforts, which
“through God’s help” are seeing
results. To the people around the
world who prayed and supported
the girls, the families say ‘thank
you’ and assured us that they will
“present them to God.”
Difficulties remain, however.
Binta Nkeki, Amina’s mother
recalled how she and her son “reprimanded”
Amina, slapping her,
when they found out she had converted
to Islam. “Why would you
go back to Islam…after mother
brought us to Christianity?”
demanded Amina’s brother.
Navigating the spiritual reconciliation
of the forcefully converted
girls back into their predominantly
Christian families and villages will
be challenging.
Furthermore some of these
girls left as teenagers but have
returned as mothers. These babies
are reminders of the trauma and
devastation experienced by both
the girls and their families for the
last three years. Will these children
be forever associated with Boko
Haram’s atrocities toward hundreds
of men, women, and children?
Will the babies be accepted
or shunned?
For the parents of girls still
missing, they grieve and pray.
Yes, they rejoice for the families
whose daughters are no longer in
Boko Haram’s custody, but are
more acutely aware of their daughters’
absence. “Those of us whose
daughters are not yet freed…now
have greater grief….that’s where
we are,” admitted Yaga. “We are
still pleading with God to free
them, if they are still alive…may
God grant our desires. That’s what
we want.”
Parents like Galang, Yaga, and
Dauda “ask for more prayers”
from people like you because “we
have no more strength to bear it.”
5

Profile
EGYPT
LIVING IN FEAR
For years, ICC has kept a
close record of kidnappings
in Egypt. Among
these cases, many are
instances of young women
being abducted and forcefully
converted to Islam.
Most of these Christian
women and girls never
return to their families.
Most become slaves to their captors for the
rest of their lives. In the following article, you
will read the personal accounts of two such
women, one who escaped this harsh fate, and
one who did not.
Mary, 18
“I bear witness there is no god but Allah,”
a young woman’s voices chillingly echoes
across the television screen. The video shows
a young woman, shrouded in black, speaking
quietly, but clearly, almost as if she had
rehearsed the lines.
According to her family, Mary was kidnapped
at gunpoint from her front porch on
May 1, 2016. Family members rushed to the
front door at the sound of her screams, but
were stopped by indiscriminate gunfire. She
was 18 years old at the time.
“After it happened, we headed immediately
to Girga police station and filed a formal
complaint,” Emad Wahib, Mary’s cousin,
explained. “We accused a young Muslim
man named Islam Ahmed of kidnapping her,
because he had attacked her before.”
Police asked for two days to investigate
the matter before making any arrests, but
the Wahib family could not wait that long.
Instead, they, along with many other Coptic
Christians, hosted a demonstration outside
of the police station in a desperate attempt to
bring attention to Mary’s plight.
On May 4, three days after she was taken,
the video clip of Mary surfaced on Facebook.
In it, she revealed her name, age, and location,
as well as her decision to convert to
Islam. She emphasized that she had not been
kidnapped and that her conversion was by her
own will.
“I bear witness there is no god but
Allah,” she concluded. “I bear witness that
Muhammad is his messenger.”
According to testimonies from other
Christian women who were kidnapped and
forcefully converted to Islam in Egypt, the
truth behind Mary’s conversion could be more
sinister. Many of these women have reported
being repeatedly beaten and raped by their
captors, who were videotaping the atrocious
acts all along. When the women refused to
“I braced up
myself and
walked until
someone found
me,” said Sandy.
convert to Islam, their kidnappers threatened
to publish the humiliating footage online,
leaving the victims little choice but to submit.
It’s been more than a year since Mary
was taken. While her family continues to
desperately search for her, they refused to
speak further with us on the matter as these
cases are often shrouded in scandal and
grave repercussions.
Sandy, 16
In April 2016, Sandy, age 16, left her
house at 4:30 p.m. to go shopping with her
aunt for new Easter clothes. Sandy never
reached her destination.
“I went to the mobile shop before going to
my aunt,” Sandy later recounted. “While I was
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Recent Cases
from Egypt
When Christian women are
kidnapped, they are forced to live
out their lives under the strict and
degrading rules of Islam.
Creative Commons image by Flickr user
Ksenia Mikhaylov.
Case #2288 – Noura
21 years old. Kidnapped Wednesday,
April 20, 2016. Husband accuses
Moustafa Sayed based on previous
harassment and neighbor’s testimony.
Police found no evidence or need for
investigation. Still missing.
Case #2545 – Amal
19 years old. Missing since Sunday,
March 27, 2016. Student at Cairo
University. Previously kidnapped on
April 4, 2011 and found by family on
April 20, 2011. Assailant’s verdict not
executed. Still missing.
Case #4169 – Mariam
16 years old. Kidnapped by Ahmed
Gamal Ahmed Gadallah on Thursday,
May 12, 2016. Located and released
on Thursday, May 26, 2016 after
kidnapper called father for ransom.
Returned home.
Case #6142 - Marian
20 years old. Disappeared Monday,
August 5, 2016. Investigation pending.
Still missing.
Case #15345 - Nada
26 years old. Mother of two. Kidnapped
on Saturday, July 30, 2016.
Husband accuses Ahmed Samir Mahrous.
No investigation. Still missing.
Case #3458 - Nermin
21 years old. Disappeared Tuesday,
May 16, 2017. Student at Beni Suef
University. Still missing.
leaving...a beard[ed] man hit me on my head,
and I then passed out.”
When Sandy never arrived at her aunt’s house,
her family searched the streets for her. The crude
reality for Christians in Egypt looks much like
this: relatives and friends alike searching in
hospitals and alleyways hoping to recover their
loved ones.
On Tuesday, April 19, Sandy’s grandfather
reported the disappearance to the Helwan police
station. Sandy’s case was filed under report
number 5696.
At the same time, in a remote mountain location,
Sandy woke up to find herself surrounded
by older Muslim men.
“They clothed me [in] a black cloak and
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tried to convert me to Islam many times, but I
refused,” Sandy told ICC. “They were attacking,
torturing, and beating me.”
The men relentlessly assaulted Sandy for her
entire two-week captivity. After each beating,
Sandy would pass out until they woke her up
again to continue.
On May 3, Sandy awoke to being thrown
from a truck in the middle of nowhere.
“I braced up myself and walked until someone
found me,” she recalled.
A shop owner from Abassia, Cairo, was driving
along the road when he saw Sandy. Noticing
her distress, the man offered his phone for her to
call her family.
“When I heard Sandy’s voice, the tears fell
from my eyes,” her mother recalled. “I thanked
God for answering our prayers.”
While Sandy survived her kidnapping, her
assailants have not been pursued by local authorities.
According to her family and neighbors, she
has recovered well, picking up the pieces of her
life and moving forward once again.
Christians comprise only 10 percent of Egypt’s
population, but they are entitled to equal protection
under the law. It is an obscene injustice that
their cries for justice are ignored and that these
girls are nothing more than case numbers to
authorities. No woman or girl should fear for
their safety because of their gender and religion.
Yet they still do.
7

PAKISTAN
“I WANT MY SISTER BACK”
By William Stark
“
Humaira is my sister-in-law,
a dentist
by profession,
and a very dedicated
Christian,”
Sajid, a Christian
in Pakistan’s Sindh
Province recently
told International
Christian Concern
(ICC). “She has a heart full of charity. I am
so proud of her.”
“It was an ordinary evening,” Sajid recalled,
thinking back to the day Humaira first went
missing. “The sun was about to set and everyone
was moving home from their offices and
other stations. I was also on my way home
when I stopped at a department store to purchase
some stuff for my daughter.”
“I was about to pay at the cash counter when
I received a telephone call from Humaira’s
cell number,” Sajid explained. “I picked it up,
but was shocked because I heard a male voice
ordering me ‘not to follow him or search for
Humaira.’ The caller said, ‘Humaira is in my
custody.’”
“I was stunned,” Sajid said. “I felt the building
would collapse. My senses almost stopped
working when the caller said, ‘You will be
alleged for committing blasphemy against Islam
if you take legal proceedings against me.’”
“Humaira had been kidnapped,” Sajid stated
flatly, recalling that moment. “Four armed
Muslim men took her when she left her clinic.
It was October 22, 2012.”
“The news was like a bomb for her parents
and my wife,” Sajid continued, visibly upset
by the memory. “It affected all of us.”
Taking a sip of water to steady himself, Sajid
continued, saying, “It was an unbearable situation
for the family. I had no strength to decide
what to do. It was the moment when I felt that
Pakistan is an unsafe country for Christians. It
was like mourning a death in the family.”
As Humaira was kidnapped, converted,
and married to one of her abductors, Sajid
reported the incident to local police, but, like
most cases of forced conversion, found the
authorities not only unhelpful, but actually
working against him as he tried to bring his
sister-in-law home.
“My application to the police station
regarding Humaira’s kidnapping was not
even entertained by the policeman,” Sajid
explained. “I was shocked and disappointed
“The news was like a
bomb for her parents
and my wife,” Sajid
continued, visibly
upset by the memory.
“It affected all of us.”
-SAJID
when I received a call from an officer stating,
‘We are closing Humaira’s complaint file; we
could not do anything because Humaira has
converted to Islam. Let her live her life.’”
When all felt lost, Sajid’s family was
shocked to see Humaria show up on their
doorstep. “Our sorrows turned into happiness
and laughter when Humaira returned home
after about eight months of captivity,” Sajid
remembered. “She managed to escape from
her kidnapper’s custody when most of them
were sleeping during the month of Ramadan.”
Smiling slightly, Sajid said, “We celebrated
Humaria’s brave initiative [for] escaping from
her kidnappers. She wasn’t even wearing
shoes or covering her head when she arrived
on our door.”
Fearing that Humaira’s abductors would
follow through on their threats to accuse Sajid
of blasphemy, Sajid, his family, and Humaira
decided that they had to leave Pakistan for their
own safety.
“Since we were facing many challenges, we
decided to leave Pakistan and seek asylum in
Thailand,” Sajid explained. “We dreamed of a
happier life, but that was not our fate.”
“Humaira waited for her asylum status for
more than two years, but she never received it
before her visa expired,” Sajid said. “She was
arrested and forced to return to Pakistan. She
landed in Pakistan on April 11, 2016.”
Visibly distraught, Sajid continued, saying,
“Humaira’s suffering did not end there. In
May, her Muslim ‘husband’ came to know she
had returned to Pakistan.”
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“One of the
kidnappers hit
me with a gun
and warned me
not to follow
Humaira;
otherwise they
would also take
my daughter.”
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Pakistani Christian women are
among the most targeted when it
comes to kidnappings and forced
conversions.
Having also returned to Pakistan, Sajid and
his family attempted to reconstruct the life they
had before Humaira’s abduction and forced
conversion. Sadly, Humaira’s abductors were
keen to bring her back into their custody.
“I was watching TV, Humaira was washing
clothes, and my wife was cooking when around
12 armed Muslim men entered my house,”
Sajid recalled. “They destroyed some of our
house stuff, abused all of us, and kidnapped
Humaira, dragging her to a car in the street.”
“One of the kidnappers hit me with a gun
and warned me not to follow Humaira; otherwise
they would also take my daughter,” Sajid
continued, tears forming in his eyes. “I did not
want to put my family in more danger, therefore
I didn’t have the courage to register a police
complaint against the attackers. Humaira is still
in the custody of that illegal ‘husband.’”
When ICC interviewed Sajid and his family,
they were still facing a difficult situation. Due
to threats, Sajid has been forced to move his
family to a new area where he has been unable
to secure a quality job. His children also
struggle to enjoy any sort of social life as Sajid
fears that one day they will also be abducted
and forcibly converted to Islam.
Still, the family’s thoughts are with Humaira.
“I want my sister back,” Sumaira, Humaira’s
sister, told ICC. “I have strong faith in my sister
that she is still a Christian, committed to
Jesus. She is a true follower of Jesus and will
never betray Him.”
9

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