Beneath the Tamarind Tree

by Isha Sesay

  Hours later as I checked the audio recording of the day’s interview, I found myself smiling as I listened to Priscilla singing her favorite song.

  Take it away from me

  Jesus, take it away from me

  Anything that will make me not to serve you

  Take it away from me

  Anything that will make me not to honor you

  Take it away from me

  As she sang, her voice carried me back to the dark forest, and there I pictured Priscilla beneath the overbearing tamarind tree. For nearly two and a half years, she had been cut off from everyone she loved and all that she knew. But through it all she never believed she was truly lost. Her faith then and now is her north star, guiding her back to Chibok and toward a future that will touch the hearts of many. For the more than one hundred girls who remain missing, one can only hope that they are still buoyed by a faith that comforts them and that will one day bring them back to their loved ones—home once again, where they belong.

  Author’s Note

  In some ways, I have been working on Beneath the Tamarind Tree since April 15, 2014, from the first moment I learned that Boko Haram had targeted 276 schoolgirls huddled together in their northern Nigeria boarding school. At the time, I had no idea that this would become a book. Back then, I simply felt compelled to fully understand how that night had unfolded, and to put pressure on Nigerian authorities to find the girls and to bring them home. What followed were hundreds of hours of conversations about what happened that night, and in the days and months after, with some of the girls who managed to escape, with the distraught parents of the missing, and with Nigerian government officials. I also spoke with celebrities, global leaders, human rights activists, political analysts, humanitarian workers, fellow journalists, and a wealth of Nigerians from all walks of life, in order to fully understand this event and its repercussions. My total immersion in this story and the years I spent reporting on it in the field have allowed me to build my own unique perspective on what happened and the conditions that gave rise to this tragedy.

  By the time the idea for a book began to take shape in 2016, “the 21” had been released. At that point, I knew I wanted to prick the world’s conscience and to write an account of that fateful night, and what unfolded once the group of kidnapped girls and their captors disappeared into Sambisa forest. And so began my efforts to slowly build a relationship with the traumatized girls. They shared with me their individual, highly personal stories in confidence, but also with the understanding that the material would be used in this book. The bond we developed yielded the accounts you have read in the pages of this book. Prior to our discussions, much of what they told me had only ever been shared with family members and with officials tasked with helping them recover from their ordeal. As a result, despite my best efforts, there is simply no way of corroborating all that they have chosen to disclose. The reality is, the girls, who are in fact now young women, have steadfastly refused to speak with such specificity to other journalists. I am deeply humbled by the fact that they have allowed me to share their experiences with the world. My hope, and theirs, is that by sharing these stories, we can create a groundswell of interest, and exert pressure on the Nigerian government to do whatever is necessary to see that the remaining girls are reunited with their families.

  A WORD ON DATES AND HOURS

  On that night in Chibok in 2014, Boko Haram swept in and whisked hundreds of terrified schoolgirls away into the darkness of a forest full of terrifying sights and sounds. The conditions they faced left them disoriented, traumatized, and unable to firmly keep track of the passage of time. As such, there is some element of confusion surrounding when certain things happened during their captivity. Despite carefully note-taking and repeated questioning, discrepancies remain between accounts provided by the abducted—which is to be expected given the horrific nature of all they endured in a strange place, far from their loved ones.

  A WORD ON TRANSLATION

  The majority of interviews and conversations that took place as I covered this story for CNN and researched this book were conducted in English. However, at points along the way it was necessary to have individuals close at hand serve as translators. This was the case on a number of occasions when I spent time with some of the twenty-one freed girls. Given the periodic use of translators, there may be slight differences of opinion in what was shared with me and how I have chosen to present the dramatic details of this story to a global audience.

  Acknowledgments

  This book would never have become a reality were it not for the bravery of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls and the wider Chibok community—thank you for opening up your hearts and worlds to me. To all those who helped facilitate interviews with the girls, parents, community leaders and deepen my understanding of this subject matter, among them Emmanuel Ogebe, Paul and Becky Gadzama, Zannah Mustpaha, Oby Ozekwesili, Reginald Braggs, Kirsti Zitar, Jeremy Anderson, Malea Martin, Rebecca Shane, and Hilary Appel—I owe you a huge debt of thanks. Aisha Yesufu, you continue to use your voice even as others try to silence you—I am grateful for your candor and the faith you have long expressed in this project.

  There have been many who have kept me on the path to completing this book, especially while I was juggling my on-air duties at CNN, with caring for my mother—Kwasi Atuah, Ayo Otuyalo, Niyi Adekoya, my baby sister Maggie Kadi, my B-I-L Mamoud Kadi, my baby brother Mamud Sesay, Stacey Brice—each of you were indispensable. My fairy godmother Kathy Eldon who opened up her heart and home, allowing me to write for days on end uninterrupted—you are a gift from God. I love you, Michael, and the Turtletaub clan enormously.

  The team at UTA who listens to every idea I have ever had and works to set them in motion—Ryan Hayden, Marc Gerald, Byrd Leavell, and my attorney Nina Shaw, who is always willing to go an extra round for me—thank you. And the amazing team at Dey Street—Jessica Sindler, Lynn Grady—you are literary guardian angels. Bernadette Murphy, you were my editorial rock throughout this journey, asking questions and challenging me to write with more honesty and heart. Every author would be lucky to have you pushing them on—thank you for reading and rereading my pages. This process would not have been as much fun without you.

  Source Notes

  CHAPTER 1

  much of the world had been stunned by their sudden release: Stephanie Busari, Jason Hanna, and Faith Karimi, “Boko Haram releases 21 Chibok girls to Nigerian government,” CNN, October 13, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/13/africa/nigeria-chibok-girls-released.

  their plight held the gaze of celebrities worldwide: Margaret Eby, “#BringBackOurGirls: Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, other stars rally for kidnapped Nigerian girls,” New York Daily News, May 08, 2014, https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip /bringbackourgirls-campaign-attracts-hollywood-star-power-article-1.1785054.

  Zannah Mustapha, a former Nigerian lawyer: Yemisi Adegoke and Torera Idowu, “Zannah Mustapha: The Nigerian man saving Boko Haram orphans,” CNN, September 21, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/21/africa/boko-haram-orphans-zannah-mustapha/index.html.

  the release of 82 more girls: Stephanie Busari and Kelly McCleary, “82 Chibok schoolgirls released in Nigeria,” CNN, May 7, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/06/africa/chibok-girls-released /index.html.

  Ruth Maclean and Alice Ross, “82 Chibok schoolgirls freed in exchange for five Boko Haram leaders,” The Guardian, May 7, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ may/07/chibok-schoolgirls-familes-await-as-82-are-freed-by-boko-haram-exchange-prison.

  Felix Onuah and Ahmed Kingimi, “Nigeria exchanges 82 Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram for prisoners,” Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-security-idUSKBN1820P1.

  I’d be traveling in a convoy along a route that had seen several ambushes in the recent past: Jason Burke, “Nigerian clashes cast doubt on claim that Boko Haram is on its knees,” The Guardian, November 20, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/20/nigerian-clashes-doubt-boko-h
aram-technically-defeated.

  CHAPTER 2

  Nigeria isn’t some far-flung, insignificant, or forgettable nation: Patrick Meehan, “Boko Haram: An Overlooked Threat to U.S. Security,” The Heritage Foundation, July 24, 2012, https://www.heritage.org/terrorism/report/boko-haram-overlooked-threat-us-security.

  President Muhammadu Buhari was one of only two African leaders known to have spoken by phone to President Trump in the early days of his new U.S. administration: Stephanie Busari, “Trump calls presidents of Nigeria, South Africa,” CNN, February 13, 2017, https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/13/africa/buhari-zuma-trump-call-africa/index.html.

  the United States is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria: a wealth of information on the state of the bilateral trade relationship between the United States and Nigeria can be found on the U.S. Department of State, Commerce, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration websites: “How much petroleum does the United States import and export?,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, last modified October 3, 2018, https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6.

  “U.S. Imports from Nigeria of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, last modified November 30, 2018, https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mttimusni1&f=m.

  “U.S. Imports by Country of Origin,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, last modified November 30, 2018, https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_m.htm.

  U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Nigeria 2017 Human Rights Report, 2017, https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/277277.pdf.

  “U.S. Relations With Nigeria,” U.S. Department of State, Bureau Of African Affairs, last modified December 4, 2018, https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2836.htm.

  “FACT SHEET: U.S.-Africa Cooperation on Trade and Investment Under the Obama Administration,” Office of the White House Press Secretary, September 21, 2016, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/09/21/fact-sheet-us-africa-cooperation-trade-and-investment-under-obama.

  “Exporting to Nigeria—Market Overview,” U.S. Department of Commerce, last modified November 29, 2018, https://www.export.gov/apex/article2?id=Nigeria-Market-Overview.

  many of us learned for the first time about the concept of “ungoverned spaces”: Seema Habib, “Is Afghanistan A Failed State? A Brief Overview Of Indicators In The Context Of Afghanistan,” Global Public Policy Watch, May 26, 2014, https://globalpublicpolicywatch.org/2014/05/26/is-afghanistan-a-failed-state-a-brief-overview-of-indicators-in-the-context-of-afghanistan.

  Joe Havely, “Afghanistan: Rebuilding a ‘failed’ state,” CNN, September 10, 2002, https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/09/08/afghan.gov.feat/index.html.

  Turning to North Africa, we see how a local Islamist militant group borne out of the 1990s fight against Algeria’s secular government aligned itself with Al Qaeda to become Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM): Zachary Laub and Jonathan Masters, “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,” Council on Foreign Relations, March 27, 2015, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-qaeda-islamic-maghreb.

  In the years since 9/11, this Al Qaeda affiliate expanded to Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, entrenching itself in large tracts of land in the Sahara and the Sahel: Caleb Weiss, “Al Qaeda maintains operational tempo in West Africa in 2017,” The Long War Journal, January 5, 2018, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/01/al-qaeda-maintains-operational-tempo-in-west-africa-in-2017.php.

  As the Airbus 330 descended towards Detroit: David Ariosto and Deborah Feyerick, “Christmas Day bomber sentenced to life in prison,” CNN, February 17, 2012, https://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/16/justice/michigan-underwear-bomber-sentencing/index.html.

  Al Qaeda’s links to Yemen go all the way back to the Afghan jihad against the Soviets in the 1980s. But it was Yemen’s fractious civil war that cleared a path for the offshoot AQAP to flourish: “Yemen’s al-Qaeda: Expanding the Base,” International Crisis Group, February 2, 2017, https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/yemen/174-yemen-s-al-qaeda-expanding-base.

  Abdulmutallab traveled to Yemen to receive his training: Mark Hosenball, “Islamic Radicalization: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,” Newsweek, January 1, 2010, http://www.newsweek.com/islamic-radicalization-umar-farouk-abdulmutallab-70905.

  “Documents Reaffirm Awlaki’s Role in Radicalizing “Underwear Bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,” Counter Extremism Project, February 23, 2017, https://www.counterextremism.com/press/documents-reaffirm-awlaki’s-role-radicalizing-“underwear-bomber”-umar-farouk-abdulmutallab.

  Scott Shane, “Inside Al Qaeda’s Plot to Blow Up an American Airliner,” New York Times, February 22, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/us/politics/anwar-awlaki-underwear -bomber-abdulmutallab.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news.

  On the second day of his trial in Detroit, this attempted bomber suddenly pleaded guilty to all charges: Laura Dolan, “Accused Christmas Day bomber pleads guilty to all counts,” CNN, October 12, 2011, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/10/12/michigan.under wear.bomber/index.html.

  Monica Davey, “Would-Be Plane Bomber Pleads Guilty, Ending Trial,” New York Times, October 12, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/us/umar-farouk-abdulmutallab-pleads-guilty-in-plane-bomb-attempt.html.

  It gave the rest of us travelling through the nation’s airports the full body x-ray scanner: Jayshree Bajoria, “The Debate Over Airport Security,” Council on Foreign Relations, December 22, 2010, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/debate-over-airport-security.

  Boko Haram has similarly been able to successfully exploit a sense of alienation amongst northern Nigeria’s youth: For accounts on the rise of Boko Haram see the excellent book: Hilary Matfess, Women And The War On Boko Haram: Wives, Weapons, Witnesses (London: Zed Books, 2016).

  As well as the extensive writings by Alex Thurston: Alex Thurston, ‘The Disease Is Unbelief’: Boko Haram’s Religious And Political Worldview, The Brookings Institution, January 2016, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Brookings-Analysis-Paper_Alex-Thurston_Final_Web.pdf.

  And BBC’s years long in-depth reporting on the terror group: “Who are Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamist group?,” BBC News, November 24, 2016, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501.

  in 2014 in the aftermath of their capture of Gwoza: “Boko Haram declares ‘Islamic state’ in northern Nigeria,” BBC News, August 25, 2014, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28925484.

  By some estimates at one point the group controlled an area of twenty thousand square miles—roughly the size of Belgium: David Blair, “Boko Haram is now a mini-Islamic State, with its own territory,” The Telegraph, January 10, 2015, https://www .telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/11337722/Boko-Haram-is-now-a-mini-Islamic-State-with-its-own-territory.html.

  Farouk Chothia, Boko Haram crisis: How have Nigeria’s militants become so strong?,” BBC News, January 26, 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30933860.

  Matt Broomfield, “Boko Haram ‘crushed’ by Nigerian army in final forest stronghold,” The Independent, December 24, 2016, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/boko-haram-nigerian-army-sambisa-forest-a7494176.html.

  In 2015, a year after the girls disappeared, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS: Hamdi Alkhshali and Steve Almasy, “ISIS leader purportedly accepts Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance,” CNN, March 13, 2015, https://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/12/middleeast/isis-boko-haram/index.html.

  In 2016, ideological differences led to the splintering of Boko Haram into two distinct jihadist movements: A great deal has been written about the split in Boko Haram’s leadership ranks, as analysts and journalists from around the globe, try to assess the scope of the resulting fallout”: Omar Mahmood, “The Potentially More Sinister Threat In Boko Haram’s Split,” Institute for Security Studies, July 12, 2018, https://r
eliefweb.int/report/nigeria/potentially-more-sinister-threat-boko-haram-s-split.

  Loveday Wright, “Boko Haram split in leadership crisis,” Deutsche Welle, April 8, 2016, http://www.dw.com/en/boko-haram-split-in-leadership-crisis/a-19449738.

  President Buhari has said over and over that Boko Haram is defeated: Jason Burke, “Nigerian clashes cast doubt on claim that Boko Haram is on its knees,” The Guardian, November 20, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/20/nigerian-clashes-doubt-boko-haram-technically-defeated.

  Ben Ezeamalu, “Is President Buhari correct that Boko Haram are ‘not holding any territory’ in Nigeria?,” Africa Check, February 1, 2016, https://africacheck.org/reports/is-president-buhari-correct-that-boko-haram-are-not-holding-any-territory-in-nigeria.

  Daniel Mumbere, “Pres. Buhari insists that Boko Haram has been defeated,” Africa News, January 2, 2018, http://www.africanews .com/2018/01/02/pres-buhari-insists-that-boko-haram-has-been-defeated.

  According to BBC Monitoring, in 2017 the militant group targeted all four countries in 150 attacks: Mark Wilson, “Nigeria’s Boko Haram attacks in numbers—as lethal as ever,” BBC News, January 25, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42735414.

  Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), stormed the northeastern Nigerian town of Dapchi: Jonathan Gopep et al., “Boko Haram’s Seizure of 110 Girls Taunts Nigeria, and Its Leader,” New York Times, March 18, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/18/world/africa/boko-haram-dapchi-girls-nigeria.html.

  25-year old Khorsa was executed on September 16: Amanda Erickson, “At least one kidnapped aid worker in Nigeria has been killed by Boko Haram,” The Washington Post, October 15, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/10/15/frantic-plea-red-cross-warns-kidnapped-aid-workers-nigeria-may-be-killed-hours/?utm_term=.ec5796ecaa5d.

  On October 16 ICRC received word that Liman had been executed: “Boko Haram kills Red Cross staff member in Nigeria after kidnapping three aid workers,” The Telegraph, October 16, 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/16/boko-haram-kills-red-cross-staff-member-nigeria-kidnapping-three.