Investigations have unraveled a growing concern among reintegrated female former Boko Haram insurgents who are struggling to find suitors after renouncing terrorism.
Despite the arms surrender and reintegration efforts by the government, these women are shunned by potential male partners.
The number of insurgents and their families who have surrendered is officially estimated at 162,000, but the count does not distinguish the number of single women among them, according a report by The Punch.
Community leaders express fears that the societal rejection faced by these women might drive them back to their old ways.
“These ladies desperately want to marry or remarry, but men seem scared of them, as no suitors approach them with such proposal,” stated Modu Grema Wakil, a ward head in Old Maiduguri, highlighting the crisis on Monday.
The community concern is significant, as Wakil elaborated, “Our fear is that if these women and girls do not get the men to marry, they may be tempted to renege on their repentance vow from terror activities and return to the bush. But when they get suitors and marry or remarry in the law-abiding society, other girls and women still in the bush could be encouraged to surrender and come back home.”
Wakil vehemently dismissed the notion of societal stigma being a barrier, instead pointing to a deeper mistrust within the community regarding the sincerity of the women’s repentance.
He suggested, “but we are severely pained by the fact that suitors are scared of marrying them, because most people still don’t believe they have genuinely repented, and, therefore, they may slaughter their husbands and flee back to the bush.”
In response to the crisis, Wakil has called for government intervention to create a database that would encourage marriages, while Zuwaira Gambo, the Borno State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, noted that expressing a desire to marry is a positive step towards stability.
“The Foundation has forwarded to us the Charter of Demands of the various victims of the insurgency, including such women and girls,” Gambo said, confirming the government’s commitment to addressing the issue.
