Chibok Girls: One Girl Refuses To Leave Captivity

The Nigerian government has said that one girl, who was part of the group of 82 freed schoolgirls released over the weekend, had refused to return home to her family and chose to stay with the Boko Haram extremists.

News broke around the world on Sunday that the Nigerian government has brokered a deal with the Islamic terrorist group for the release of 82 schoolgirls. These girls were part of the larger group of 276 that were abducted from their boarding school in Chibok in 2014.

The government agreed to release 5 Boko Haram leaders in exchange for the girls.

However, it has now come to light that the government had initially brokered the release of 83 girls, but that one of these girls chose to stay with her captors.

The girl had reportedly said that she did not want to leave because she is married to a Boko Haram fighter.

The fact that the girl chose to stay, highlights the intense psychological effects the kidnapping has had on the girls.

It is not uncommon for victims of abduction to choose to stay with their captors, and even to start developing feelings for them.

According to Boko Haram specialist, Elizabeth Pearson, who studies the women affected by the conflict caused by the terrorist group, the fact that the girl chose to stay is not abnormal.

“From what we know of other young women who’ve returned, the relationships with their captors is very complex and at times quite ambiguous [sic]…We assume because they are abducted they are therefore likely to resist their captors. In fact they have to develop relationships of some sort in order to survive,” she said.