Boko Haram militants killed around 20 women in northeastern Nigeria, relatives of the victims and a survivor told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday November 13.
About 40 women suspected of witchcraft following the sudden death of the children of a jihadist group commander had been arrested a week earlier and held in the village of Ahraza, near the town of Gwoza in Borno state on orders of jihadist leader Ali Guyile, these sources said.
” [Ali Guyile] said he would investigate our involvement in his children’s deaths and impose appropriate penalties if we were found guilty,” said Talkwe Linbe, who fled to the regional capital Maiduguri. “On Thursday he had fourteen of us shot. I was lucky not to be one of them and my friend, one of the men guarding us, helped me escape that same night,” added the 67-year-old.
Recurring allegations
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Allegations of witchcraft are not uncommon in Nigeria, despite the country’s religious conservatism, which is divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south. On Saturday, the day Ms. Linbe arrived in Maiduguri, 12 other women were massacred, according to locals.
“I received a call from Gwoza informing me that my mother, two aunts and nine other women had been massacred [samedi] on the orders of Ali Guyile, who accused them of being witches who killed his three children,” said Abdullahi Gyya, who lives in Maiduguri.
Tijjani Usman, a Maiduguri resident from Gwoza, confirmed this information based on calls he received from his connections in Gwoza. The fate of the other female detainees is currently unknown.
When the Nigerian military was contacted, they didn’t immediately respond, but security sources said they were investigating. The Borno State Commissioner for Women’s Affairs told AFP she had not heard of the incident but would be looking into the matter.
Nigerian security forces are fighting Boko Haram and jihadists from the Islamic State group, whose insurgency has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced two million since 2009.