Every day, HumAngle’s journalists and researchers gather, sort through, and file stories about issues important to society. We bring you stories about development, conflict, and humanitarian trends across Africa in hopes that we can improve understanding of the most pressing problems and improve people’s quality of life.
In this roundup, Umar Aminu Yandaki shares some of the most important pieces of reporting we published last week — in case you missed them.
THE TOP STORY
545 Days (3): The Last Day?
In details that bring a reader closest to exactly what happened, HumAngle narrates the third and final part of an unusual story. A story that recounts 545 days of hardships, anxiety, scheming and a narrow escape from a terrorist den.
Borno in northeastern Nigeria has been Boko Haram’s most terrorised state in the last 13 years. Those familiar with the insurgency might wonder how Christians among the hundreds of humanitarian workers cope trying to help victims in an area where the perpetrators of violence consider them as soft and legitimate targets. The risks expanded when splinter groups, such as Ansaru and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), split from Boko Haram.
Part one of the story narrates how Jummai Inuwa, a humanitarian worker, was abducted by the ISWAP Jihadists in Oct. 2021. In part two, Jummai retells how she survived in the terrorists’ camp, with great details that mirrors the lives of captives, wives and fighters of ISWAP. This last part is the tale of how Jummai led other resilient and courageous women out of a terrorist den in a narrow and tortuous escape.
MORE STORIES FROM THE WEEK
Will Redesigning Naira Notes Improve Security In Northwest Nigeria?
In Northwest Nigeria, one of the regions with the highest incidences of terrorism and kidnapping, this is not the first time the government is deploying non-military measures to combat insecurity.
Peace dialogues, motorcycle bans, shutting of filling stations, shutting of local markets, and the suspension of telecommunication services have been attempted in the past but with few successes.
As a result, expert opinions gathered by HumAngle are deeply polarised on whether the new policy will work in the region.
Financing The Ambazonian Dream
On Oct. 1, 2017, Julius Ayuk Tabe declared an independent state called Ambazonia in the southwest and northwest regions of the Republic of Cameroon. The government clamped down on the separatists, and ever since, there’s been armed fighting. Why has the fighting raged on, and how is it being sustained?
Flood Ravages Homes, Worsens Food Insecurity In Sokoto Communities
The flood in Sakkwai, a community in the Tangaza area of Sokoto, Northwest Nigeria, did not only threaten lives and damage household items, but it also affected the locals’ source of sustenance.
Life For The Displaced Woman When Her Husband Goes Missing
One night in Kumshe, Boko Haram terrorists, about nine of them on motorcycles, attacked the community and killed three residents. The next day, Nigerian fighter jets cut through the sky.
The insurgency, which had erupted in Maiduguri years earlier, was finally knocking on their doors. Everyone was afraid. People started leaving in case the terrorists returned — or worse, the jets, especially if this time they stayed and bombed the houses.
The Web Of Displacement For Victims Of Boko Haram
A year after that, as Bintu was preparing her space in the cell to sleep, some officials came and began to call out the names of people. Her name was called out as well. They all filed out. They were told they would be transferred somewhere. They were transferred to the Borno Maximum-Security Prison. It was there that she found out that she was a widow.
“I saw his former cellmates there and asked them where my husband was. They told me he didn’t even reach one year in Giwa barracks. My husband died, and for two years, nobody told me. I was not informed. I don’t even know how he died.”
Podcast: A War That Takes Everything
Yagana Mamanaye’s story is one of great loss. Like millions of people in northeastern Nigeria, her life can easily be divided into two parts. Before the Boko Haram armed uprising of 2009. And after. But unlike a lot of people, for her, the war did not just take this loved one or that loved one – it took all she had.
Support Our Journalism
There are millions of ordinary people affected by conflict in Africa whose stories are missing in the mainstream media. HumAngle is determined to tell those challenging and under-reported stories, hoping that the people impacted by these conflicts will find the safety and security they deserve.
To ensure that we continue to provide public service coverage, we have a small favour to ask you. We want you to be part of our journalistic endeavour by contributing a token to us.
Your donation will further promote a robust, free, and independent media.
Donate Here
