Thursday, 22 May 2014

15-Yr-Old Boko Haram Attack Survivor Recounts Ordeal

Deborah Peter recalls attack of Boko Haram on her family

Deborah Peter, the only survivor of 2011 attack by Boko Haram insurgents on Chibok, recounted her story amidst the global attempts to find and rescue nearly 300 female students abducted more that a month ago from the local school.
Speaking before the committee in Washington, DC, USA, the 15-year-old girl pledged she would never return to Nigeria after having lost her father and brother, The Leadership reports.

Deborah narrated that on the fateful day of the 22nd of December she was at home with her family, when some men knocked on the door, and the girl's brother opened as he recognized one of the men. The people inquired about the siblings' father, who was taking a shower at that moment. They intruded the bathroom and started yelling at the man, who was a Christian father:

"The men told my dad that he should deny his Christian faith. My dad told them that he would not deny his faith. "

Otherwise they promised to kill him.

Deborah proceeded:

"They said that if he did not deny his faith they were going to kill him. My dad refused, saying that Jesus said whoever acknowledges him in front of man will be acknowledged in front of God. My dad said he would rather die than go to hellfire."

As soon as he uttered these words, he was shot thrice in the chest. The same fate befell Deborah's brother Caleb, who was shot twice in the mouth. According to the girl, her father was still breathing when Boko Haram terrorists killed his son and could see it all.




The shocked 12-year-old girl was made to lie there, between the two corpses of her closest relatives, until the next morning when the army came.

Soon after the incident a local pastor, Rev. Faye Pama, warned Deborah that those insurgents would come back after her and paid her so that she left. She was helped to flee to America. That pastor was killed in 2013 by Boko Haram in front of his children.

"Boko Haram decided later that they should have killed me because I am a daughter of an apostate Muslim mother who converted to Christianity."

The Nation reports that in conclusion Deborah, whose mother graduated from Chibok school, said:

"I decided to tell the world my story when the Chibok girls were taken because everyone needs to know how horrible Boko Haram is. They kill innocent people who never hurt them. I want the world to understand what happened to me. I hope the kidnapped Chibok girls will take courage from my story, and know more of what God says, and know what it means to stand strong in the face of bad people."

No comments:

Post a Comment