17-Year-Old Girl Marries Boko Haram Member Against Father’s Wish

A teenager in Kurebe community of Niger State identified as Zainab Abu has willingly tied the knot to a Boko Haram member.

It was gathered that the 17-year-old girl married the terrorist in October after the insurgents settled in the community.

A resident who spoke on the incident with Foundation for Investigative Journalism disclosed that the terrorists stormed the community following the evacuation of military personnel about three months earlier.

FIJ a few months stated that the terrorists assembled Kurebe residents and told them all young girls must be married lest they forcefully marry them to terrorists.

The development saw village elders advised their young girls to stay at the Internally Displaced Persons camps to prevent the terrorists from marrying them.

Zainab, however, refused to yield to this directive as she preferred to get married to a terrorist.

The decision of the teenage girl to marry a Boko Haram terrorist got the elders of the village worried.

An elder in the village said “They have been preaching against us since last month.

“They denounce us before our children, instilling in them weird Islamic ideologies.”

Another resident said, “Why the military formation was withdrawn remains unknown to us. We were only told they would be replaced at the time they were being evacuated.

“The father pleaded with her, but she would not listen. Just last month, her terrorist suitor came with his cohorts, seeking her hand in marriage. She accepted with her mother’s support.”

One of the community leaders said, “We are scared she might lure other girls into an unholy marriage with other members of the group.”