At least nine women kidnapped and forcibly married to Boko Haram insurgents have been arrested by security operatives while relocating from their enclave in Alawa forest reserve, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State to areas bordering Benin Republic in neighbouring Kebbi State, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

This newspaper had reported how the Boko Haram faction led by Mallam Sadiku engaged in forced labour and child marriage.

While the exact reason for the women’s attempted relocation remains unclear, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Sadiku-led faction is under pressure from external forces of the military and the rival Dogo Gide group.

Initially operating as a sleeper cell, the group has grown significantly, reportedly recruiting many fighters reportedly—some forcefully—from the Gbagyi communities in Shiroro LGA.

In addition to recruiting men and boys for combat, the group has abducted numerous girls, some as young as 15, and forced them into marriage and motherhood. PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that at least five girls—Zainab, Mary, two named Azeema, and Khadija—were forcibly married to senior commanders in Mr Sadiku’s group.

Zainab, abducted in 2021 at the age of 17, was the first to be married off, to a commander named Muhammad Kabeer. Mary was married to Ismail; Azeema to Mallam Shafi’i; the second Azeema to Suleiman; and Khadija to Umar.

Sadiku-led Boko Haram enclaves inside Alawa forest / Credit: Yakubu Mohammed.

These commanders, along with their “wives” and other non-combatants, live in makeshift camps scattered across the Alawa forest reserve, particularly around Kugu, Maganda, and Dogon Fili. The camps, sheltered with zinc roofing, also host informal Islamic schools that reportedly serve as radical indoctrination centres.

On Friday, three of the women were intercepted by the police in Tegina, a town infamous for the 2021 mass abduction of more than 100 Islamiya students. Local sources told our reporter that the women had boarded a commercial vehicle from Pandogari or Birnin Gwari to Tegina, where they planned to continue their trip to Kebbi through Kontagora.

“But a disagreement broke out among them during the trip,” one source with direct knowledge of their arrests told PREMIUM TIMES.

“One of them who hails from Kagara backed out of the journey and began arguing with the others,” he continued.

“She told them she couldn’t continue the journey since she had gotten to Tegina.”

“The commotion drew the attention of passers-by who alerted authorities,” he added.

According to the source, the woman who refused to continue the journey explained their background to residents, who then handed them over to the police. The women later confessed to the police that their Boko Haram husbands had instructed them to relocate to Kebbi.

“They also told the police that more women were on their way,” the source added.

Indeed, the following day, six additional women were intercepted in Agwara, a border town in Niger State. All but one were carrying babies; the other woman was “heavily pregnant.”

One of the intercepted women was identified as a native of Alawa, a community the insurgents had previously captured after dislodging the military and displacing its residents. A family member confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that she was one of 25 women kidnapped on 14 February 2024 while en route to a local market.

“For now, I can’t say much about her condition,” the relative said. “She’s still in police custody.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, said he would verify the arrests and provide updates.