'They killed my father and husband there, then tied my mother to a tree and eventually shot her': Girl, 16, reveals how her family were slaughtered by insurgents in Nigeria who forced her to marry one of them
- Halima, 16, saw Islamist extremists slaughter her parents and husband
- She was then captured and forced into marriage and became pregnant
- The teenager was eventually freed and is now in a large refugee camp
- Now charities are warning of an unfolding humanitarian disaster in Nigeria
- They saw there are thousands of starving children forced to live in the camps
Halima, 16, who already has a young son called Ali, was seized from her family’s farm after the extremists killed her father and husband before shooting dead her mother.After fleeing her captors, she now lives in a large refugee camp with her young son and her newborn baby in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno.
Halima, 16, who was snatched by insurgents and forced to marry one of them after they slaughtered her family -The teenager is currently living in a refugee camp with her two children. She is provided with help by support workers from Save the Children
- A malnourished baby cries out after being brought to the nutrition site at the camp in Nigeria -The little boy is given some therapeutic milk at the camp to try and treat his severe hunger
- It comes as award winning actor David Oyelowo and U2 frontman Bono warn of an unfolding humanitarian disaster in the heart of Africa with tens of thousands of children facing starvation as they flee the Islamist militants behind the kidnap of Nigerian schoolgirls.In an unusual move, the stars have joined international agencies in highlighting the plight of children and their families trapped in North East Nigeria as donors meet in Switzerland to try and agree emergency funding for what agencies say is a ‘forgotten crisis’.And speaking of her plight, Halima said: ‘They killed my father and husband, then tied my mother to a tree and eventually shot her.‘When they had killed everyone else they told me to come with them. I resisted so they threatened me with a gun. They tied my hands and tied me to a tree.‘They told me I would get married to one of them. I told them I never would after they had killed my family. They told me I had no choice. I was married two days later. I didn’t even know who he was. I didn’t even see him during the ceremony.'From when I was married all of the other men turned their backs on me as it is forbidden for them to look at another man’s wife.‘The houses were like tents made with thatch. Ali and I were left alone in the house for one week. They gave me food but I didn’t speak to anyone apart from Ali the whole time.'All I could think was that my family was dead and I had no-one. The women were all kept in their tents and no-one was allowed to see each other.’She continued: ‘Eventually I became pregnant. When I was eight months pregnant came the news that my husband had been killed in the fighting, and they brought his clothes to me. Soon after, I heard the sounds of war and I knew it was the military. Others ran to the bush, but I ran towards them.
