Mother of one of the remaining 215 girls pleads for N3.5m to relocate family from war ravaged Chibok; her husband recovering from cancer surgery

MRS Monica Stover is about 50 years old. Her husband, Maita Stover, is an indigene of Chibok, the headquarters of Chibok Local Government Area located in the southern part of Borno State. Chibok, a Christian community, occupies an area of 1,350 square kilometres and a population of 66,105 by 2006 population census. Most  indegenes of the village speak the Kibaku language.

Since the night of April 14 when the Islamist  group, Boko Haram kidnapped almost 300 schoolgirls there, residents, some Christian leaders, and thousands of concerned Nigerians have vowed not to  rest  until the schoolgirls are released.

Some of the kidnapped girls apparently escaped from  their captors. But the mother of one of  the remaining 215 girls still in captivity, Mrs. Stover, was in Lagos, last week, and, tearfully, narrated  how her people in Chibok  now live in the forest for fear of terror  attacks which have reduced one of the 16 local government headquarters  to a ghost town. Her story is representative of those  at  hundreds of mothers in the community, some of them giving  birth to babies in the forest without any form of medical attention.

Mrs Stover, mother of nine children, has a unique case. Her husband underwent a surgical operation for prostrate cancer. While still in  hospital, Boko Harâm struck and took away about  300 girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok hostels on April 14. Her daughter, Saraya, is among the victims.

In order not to worsen her husband’s case, the family tried to keep the news away from him. But, a few days later, the Islamists returned and looted everything they had, and torched their house alongside several other houses in the town. As if that was not enough, her first daughter, Nancy, who couldn’t stand the trauma, relapsed and now needs urgent psychiatrist attention. Over 100 days  of her daughter in captivity, Mrs Stover, now seeking N3.5 million from public spirited Nigerians to relocate  her family from the war zone,  denied receiving a dime from the  alleged presidential largesse to the Chibok abducted girls’ parents.

Culled from Vanguard