“My Pain, My Agony”- The Lamentations Of Father Of 16-Year Student Of FGC Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, Married Off By Terrorists

By Adesina Soyooye

Sani Kaoje, a retired Civil Servant thought his 16-year old daughter, Farida Kaoje, was safe. And what better place to feel safe than a Federal Government College.

She is a student of the Federal Government College Yauri, Kebbi. His father was relaxed. His daughter was secured even though terrorists and bandits have taken over Nigeria – kidnapping, maiming and wreaking havoc.

But on June 17, 2021, the feeling of security Kaoje always felt about his daughter was shattered.

A terrorist gang which leader is Dogo Gide, invaded  the College and took about 90 of the students hostage. Farida was one of them.

Nigerians have since become shock-absorbers. But each time terrorists attacked any school and take students hostages, the pain, the helplessness is infectious.

Terrorist leader Gide is not hiding himself. He is not denying responsibility. He boasts about it. He freely discusses with the parents of the victims. And has been negotiating with the Kebbi State Government. The State Government has allegedly paid Gide ransom money to the tune of millions for the release of the students.

Between the Military which gave the terrorists a hot chase, and the Kebbi State Government which has been negotiating with Gide, quite a number of the students have been released.

But 11 of them, all females, have suffered a worse fate. Not only have they been in captivity for over one year, they have been married off by the terrorists.

The news of their heart-breaking forced marriage was broken by no other than Gide. He called their broken parents to tell them. He had earlier warned them and inspite of the appeals to him, and the pleadings to save the girls a horrifying life, and their families a life of pain and agony and hopelessness and helplessness, Gide still married them off.

In an emotional and heart-breaking interview he granted Premium Times, Farida’s father speaks of the horror he has been through. He speaks of his agony and pain. He also paints the dreary picture of the lives of the other 10 parents whose lives will never be the same.

His words:

“Farida is one of my children. She is now 16 years (she was 15 when she was abducted). She was in JSS three. I’ve 19 children alive including her. Farida is the 15th of my children. I’ve three wives,” he said.

“I was having my breakfast in the morning when Farida’s mother ran into my room shouting. She said she heard that FGC Birnin Yauri has been attacked and pupils abducted. I rushed to the school and met other parents there. At first, the school management and security people denied us entry but they later let us in after confirming we had children in the school

“An hour after the abduction, Farida called me with her friend’s phone. She told me that ‘Baba, we’ve been abducted and they said they’re taking us to a forest in Zamfara state.’  I calmed her down. I told her that God would save them from all evil. That was the end of our conversation at the time.”

The abduction, Kaoje revealed, was not sudden. He said it did not take the College Authorities by surprise. The Terrorists warned them of the imminent attack. They wrote to the school. But nobody did anything to prevent it, or to evacuate the students.

His words: “Even Dogo Gide himself told me that he wrote to the school twice before he attacked it. They were just not serious about it. But he said he alerted them. The school, I was told, said the letters were written by some students. I don’t actually know how they handled it since I was not a party to it.

“But this school is obviously vulnerable to attack. These bandits follow behind the school’s walls to perpetrate violence on other communities. The signs were there. The authority should have known that the school would soon be attacked.

According to reports, “some of the pupils were rescued by security agents while others were returned after payment of ransom or other agreements with the state government.”

Kaoje could not explain to Premium Times while his daughter was not released.

He said: “I don’t understand the way this Government does things. I thought when they were doing the rescue operations, they would emphasise saving girls first because of their vulnerability. They should have negotiated and got the girls first but they didn’t.

“What I know is anyone that you’ve seen now was rescued by the Government. The Governor did his best immediately after the abduction. He tried his best and the first set was brought back and he did it the second time

“We waited to hope that they would rescue our child but we heard nothing. No one is telling us anything anymore. Even when we tried to reach them, they would tell us that the Governor has gone to Abuja. Sometimes when we call them they won’t answer their phones

“I don’t know if some others were invited or were allowed to go see them, especially the Secretary to the State Government. I don’t know if there was anything like that. But as for me, I’ve not met anyone of them.

Kaoje revealed how his knew Farida has been married off. He said Gide was the one who broke the devastating news to him.

“He is the one who said it to me directly through the phone. Dogo Gide knows Yauri very well because he once lived here and he told me that he married Farida himself though he was not very direct about it. But he used some techniques to tell me that he has married off the 10 girls to others but as for Farida, she is being taken care of by him. He didn’t say it straight but he said ‘even if I die, there are people that can inherit Farida from my house’. He was just telling me that he had married her off

“I can’t count the number of times I spoke with him since the abduction. He kept threatening that he would marry the remaining eleven girls if the State Government refused to pay him. He called me several times with the same threat. He called other parents too. He pretended that he was sympathetic to us but he kept our children, innocent girls, with him. If he has such sympathy as he keeps saying, he should release our children back to us.

“The Government didn’t do well too because this issue should have been over by now. If it were to be the children of the privileged, they must have saved them by now. The Governor needs to listen to us directly and not through some people. I’m serious. I’m in pain.

“Everyone in my house is in pain because Farida is like a light in the house.

“I know several parents who have fallen ill because of this issue. We’re talking of children, all teenage girls. Innocent children for that matter

“You can’t imagine the situation we’re in. Farida’s mother has been sick. There was a day she fell down and had to be taken to the hospital. Some parents have lost their lives. Others are now battling high blood pressure and other related illnesses.

“I know one of the parents, Mr John, he can’t even count money now because he is depressed. His business has crumbled. He is my friend and this abduction has taken a toll on him. His daughter, Rebecca, is Farida’s friend and she is also there. We go to bed and wake up in misery thinking of the unknown.

“I can’t even concentrate on my business. We can’t now concentrate on our family members because we’re always thinking of how to get the children out. My fish farming has been the worse hit because I can’t concentrate. On the other farms, I didn’t even bother to know whether we’re working on it this year because the tension is too much

“Nobody is taken us seriously. This is a Federal Government school but what did the Education Minister do or even say? They have just left us to our fate as if nothing has happened and our children are still with us.

“In fact, we pleaded with him, Gide,  to allow us to negotiate the ransom but he said he would not collect our money and insisted that he would only collect the Government’s money.

“The first time he told me that if the Government failed to give him N100 million, he would marry off the girls, I pleaded with him to let parents and relatives negotiate with him, but he refused. Whenever he called, I would plead with him to let us pay but he always refuses.

“Once, he reduced the ransom to N50 million and some motorcycles, but he still said the intermediaries with the government didn’t respond to them hence they decided to marry off our children.

“As I told you earlier, we speak with him a lot and he said he has reduced the ransom to N50m and 30 motorcycles but they still refused to give the bandits so they could release our daughters for us. I’ve nothing to say because this democracy has failed us. What would the Government now say to us since they can’t protect our daughters?

“He (Gide) said he has a problem with the Government and that the Government is not responsible, and he would only collect ransom from them. If you have a problem with the Government, why abduct innocent children? He should be disturbing Government people and not the poor. The pupils he abducted were all innocent.

Mr Kaoje said he speaks with his daughter, who has confirmed  she has been married off. “Yes. And it breaks my heart to even remember her voice. We spoke with her a lot. And I cry every day he ( Gide) called and let us speak with her. In one of such calls, she said ‘Baba, there is a problem because some of my friends have been married off’. After that, Dogo Gide himself confirmed to us that they had been married off since the Government has refused to pay them.

“We’ve just resorted to praying for Allah to intervene. It’s no longer in our control because they said since the Government has refused to pay them they would marry them off for good. But we want our children back home and we’ll continue to pray because it’s the only way out.”