Rescued nurse describes delivering 10 babies bare-handed in captivity

Amirah Salihu, a nurse held captive for nearly six months after a terrorist attack in Nigeria's Kwara State, has shared harrowing details of her ordeal. She described delivering 10 babies with her bare hands in captivity, without gloves, after the abductors inquired if any nurses were among the captives.

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The kind of food that they were giving us was bad. The day that we got there, they just dropped guinea corn for us with salt and Maggi. Every day after, they gave us one bag of corn without oil, pepper, nothing.

Salihu recounted the severe hardship endured by the captives, including inadequate and poor-quality food, often just guinea corn with salt. They were forced to sleep outdoors, sometimes near a river, even during heavy rainfall. The terrorists also prevented them from making fires for warmth.

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And they kept us inside river. The place that we sleep is inside river. And rain always used to fall, sometimes. If we set fire, they asked us to put off the fire.

She explained that the attackers claimed their actions were in service of Allah and aimed to impose Islamic law, rejecting the constitution and democracy. The community was attacked because her father, the chief of Woro, had resisted their entry and brought soldiers for protection. This resistance led to the killing of her two brothers during the attack.

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Is there any nurse with us? I said no, because I was… I am also a nurse, I just used to help pregnant women do delivery. I helped like 10 women for the delivery, without gloves. I used my hands to help them.

Initially, the terrorists wanted Salihu to stay with them due to her nursing skills, but she refused, expressing a strong desire to return home. She stated that the terrorists' ultimate goal was to enforce their interpretation of the Quran.

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But at last, when they got to know, they wanted to keep me, that I should stay with them, but I said no. I want to come back.