‘We’ve been abandoned after our husbands died fighting Boko Haram’
Widows of some soldiers killed during fights with
insurgents in Borno State have said about two
months after they told wives of service chiefs and
that of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP)
during their visit to the state about the shoddy
treatment they are receiving from authorities
after the deaths of their husbands, nothing has
changed.
Wife of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Mrs.
Omobolanle Olonishakin, who led the team told
the widows that she will never let her husband
rest until the issues raised by the widows are fully
addressed. But the Coordinator of a Non-
Governmental Organization (NGO), New Hope for
Widows, Mrs. Fatime Al-Hussein said several
weeks after the visit by the wives of the service
chiefs, the conditions of the widows remain the
same. “I spoke to a good number of the widows,
and they say nothing has changed since then.”
Earlier, during their visit to the state, the wives of
the service chiefs visited injured soldiers in
hospitals, donated items, and commiserated with
them and prayed for their speedy recovery
before proceeding to the Social Center of the 7
Division of the Nigerian Army where they met the
widows. Addressing them after donating
wrappers, food items and other essential
commodities, wife of the CDS said they were in
the state to sympathize with them over what they
are going through after their husbands died. She
then urged the widows, there in hundreds, to
speak freely of the problems they are going
through.
One of the widows, Mrs. Fatima Abdullahi, said
she is not aware if her husband was killed or not,
saying, “I am yet to see his corpse. He was
declared missing since 2014 and we have not
heard anything about him since then. But two
months after he was declared missing, the
military authority stopped his salary and drove us
away from the barracks.”
Mrs. Abdullahi said nothing has been paid to the
family as benefits. “I’ve been a full-time
housewife. I do not have a means of taking care
of the children he left behind. We find it very
difficult to even feed,” she said.
One of the widows, simply called Madam Serah,
told the wife of the CDS that after the death of
her husband, the military kept paying her his
salary up to a year before it was stopped. “My
problem is I have not seen the corpse of my
husband. I am not begging for financial aid from
the military. I am a university graduate. Give me a
job to take care of our children. That is my prayer
to the military authorities,” she said.
Mrs. Mary Johnson said her husband was killed in
Monguno. “When I went to the military
headquarters for his benefit, they told me that I
must go to Monguno in Borno State and obtain
some papers from the Commander. On getting to
Maiduguri I was warned that I cannot go to
Monguno except with military escort. I am
starving, along with my children.”
Apparently not comfortable with the revelations
by the widows, army officers at the event
interceded, stopped the proceedings and led the
wives of the service chiefs out of the hall before
dispersing the crowd.
insurgents in Borno State have said about two
months after they told wives of service chiefs and
that of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP)
during their visit to the state about the shoddy
treatment they are receiving from authorities
after the deaths of their husbands, nothing has
changed.
Wife of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Mrs.
Omobolanle Olonishakin, who led the team told
the widows that she will never let her husband
rest until the issues raised by the widows are fully
addressed. But the Coordinator of a Non-
Governmental Organization (NGO), New Hope for
Widows, Mrs. Fatime Al-Hussein said several
weeks after the visit by the wives of the service
chiefs, the conditions of the widows remain the
same. “I spoke to a good number of the widows,
and they say nothing has changed since then.”
Earlier, during their visit to the state, the wives of
the service chiefs visited injured soldiers in
hospitals, donated items, and commiserated with
them and prayed for their speedy recovery
before proceeding to the Social Center of the 7
Division of the Nigerian Army where they met the
widows. Addressing them after donating
wrappers, food items and other essential
commodities, wife of the CDS said they were in
the state to sympathize with them over what they
are going through after their husbands died. She
then urged the widows, there in hundreds, to
speak freely of the problems they are going
through.
One of the widows, Mrs. Fatima Abdullahi, said
she is not aware if her husband was killed or not,
saying, “I am yet to see his corpse. He was
declared missing since 2014 and we have not
heard anything about him since then. But two
months after he was declared missing, the
military authority stopped his salary and drove us
away from the barracks.”
Mrs. Abdullahi said nothing has been paid to the
family as benefits. “I’ve been a full-time
housewife. I do not have a means of taking care
of the children he left behind. We find it very
difficult to even feed,” she said.
One of the widows, simply called Madam Serah,
told the wife of the CDS that after the death of
her husband, the military kept paying her his
salary up to a year before it was stopped. “My
problem is I have not seen the corpse of my
husband. I am not begging for financial aid from
the military. I am a university graduate. Give me a
job to take care of our children. That is my prayer
to the military authorities,” she said.
Mrs. Mary Johnson said her husband was killed in
Monguno. “When I went to the military
headquarters for his benefit, they told me that I
must go to Monguno in Borno State and obtain
some papers from the Commander. On getting to
Maiduguri I was warned that I cannot go to
Monguno except with military escort. I am
starving, along with my children.”
Apparently not comfortable with the revelations
by the widows, army officers at the event
interceded, stopped the proceedings and led the
wives of the service chiefs out of the hall before
dispersing the crowd.
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