{"id":5342,"date":"2025-11-08T15:55:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T15:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=5342"},"modified":"2025-12-10T17:05:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:05:59","slug":"nigerian-widow-and-children-seek-refuge-after-village-attacked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/nigerian-widow-and-children-seek-refuge-after-village-attacked\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian Widow and Children Seek Refuge After Village Attacked"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

She never expected to suffer persecution, but when Naomi\u2019s town was overrun by Islamic terrorists, she was ready. Her church and the Bible had taught her well: \u201cPersecution is God\u2019s Word being fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naomi had already experienced suffering. When her husband died in 2009, her in-laws, who in Nigerian culture<\/a> would be expected to help her and her five children, rejected her. With no other options, Naomi moved in with her parents in the town of Gwoza, in Nigeria\u2019s northeastern Borno state. Hoping to rebuild her life, she set about the work of providing for her family and educating her children, the youngest of whom was only 1 year old when his father died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long after their move to Gwoza, a violent Islamist organization began gaining power in the area, advancing its goal of \u201cpurifying\u201d northern Nigeria for the sake of Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Boko Haram, whose name means \u201cWestern education is forbidden\u201d in the Hausa dialect, began waging an insurgency across northern Nigeria, targeting military installations, police stations, government buildings, churches and civilians, primarily in Borno state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2014, conflicts between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces had become common as the insurgents fought for control of Borno state\u2019s capital, Maiduguri. Frustrated at its failure to gain control in Maiduguri, Boko Haram turned its attention to the majority Christian community of Gwoza and its 300,000 residents. While previous offensives in the area had been announced by letters warning civilians to clear out, the Gwoza attack came unannounced. \u201cThis time they came without warning,\u201d Naomi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day of the invasion, Naomi was working on her plot of farmland outside the city when she heard distant gunfire. \u201cThe Muslims who were at the farm with us told us to be careful while going home,\u201d she recalled, \u201cbecause they knew what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naomi\u2019s first concern was for her children at home. But as she rushed down the road toward town, she and several other women were caught by Boko Haram fighters. \u201cThey asked us to show them the houses of Christians, and they challenged us to renounce our faith,\u201d Naomi said. \u201cThey threatened to kill us if we did not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Naomi pleaded with the militants to let her go, telling them she was a widow with children, the group\u2019s leader took pity on the women and released them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll I could think about was my kids,\u201d Naomi said. \u201cMy mother said I should be careful, but I told her I did not care if I got shot. I started running.\u201d She ran past the horrific scene of headless corpses as she searched for her children. And after she gathered her family, they ran into the forested Mandara Mountains, where they would remain for the next two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiding in the Mountains<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After reaching the mountains, they found others from Gwoza who had fled the attack. The children slept in caves with their parents guarding the entrance, while some people slept in the grass. But the danger below was never far from their minds. \u201cDay and night, there were bullets everywhere like water,\u201d Naomi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first few days, the refugees ate whatever edible leaves they could find. Then, after deciding the attack must be over, they carefully returned to their homes. Within hours, however, the sound of gunfire returned. \u201cWe thought the terrorists would not come back again,\u201d Naomi said. \u201cWe did not know they had gone to their Muslim friends in our community and had started living with them in their houses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naomi and the others kept hoping they\u2019d be able to return to their homes, but Boko Haram never left. Naomi felt desperate and alone. \u201cI had only God,\u201d she said, \u201cand I talked to Him. He gave me the strength I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naomi, her children and several thousand others lived on the mountain for two years before fleeing to Cameroon. \u201cThe morning we left for Cameroon, Boko Haram followed us,\u201d Naomi said. \u201cThey were shooting and detonating bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sojourners Return<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Naomi and her children stayed in a Cameroonian refugee camp for two months. But conditions in the camp were very difficult, and more than 300 refugees had died by the time Naomi and her children returned to Nigeria, guided along the way by ethnic Fulani herdsmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Naomi and her children arrived in Jos, a city in central Nigeria that had not yet been affected by Boko Haram, they stayed at a camp for internally displaced people until being told they had to leave. \u201cI did not know where to go,\u201d Naomi said, \u201cso I cried to God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some months later, front-line workers became aware of their situation and provided assistance. They helped the children get started in a good school and eventually helped the family move into their own house. Today, Naomi\u2019s older children have graduated from high school and continued on to vocational schools. Her youngest child, a teenager named Samson, was a toddler when his father died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life as a single parent has not been easy for Naomi, but as she looks back she realizes that she was never alone. \u201cSince the passing of my husband, God has kept me,\u201d she said. \u201cI have always had faith in God. The attack only made me stronger in my faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She draws inspiration from her namesake biblical heroine, the mother- in-law of Ruth, who also was a widow and sojourner in a foreign land. \u201cMy name is Naomi, and I want to be like the Naomi in the Bible,\u201d she said. \u201cPray for me, that with the help of God I will not fail.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She never expected to suffer persecution, but when Naomi\u2019s town was overrun by Islamic terrorists, she was ready. Her church and the Bible had taught her well: \u201cPersecution is God\u2019s Word being fulfilled.\u201d Naomi had already experienced suffering. When her husband died in 2009, her in-laws, who in Nigerian culture would be expected to help her and her five children, rejected her. With no other options, Naomi moved in with her parents in the town of Gwoza, in Nigeria\u2019s northeastern Borno state. Hoping to rebuild her life, she set about the work of providing for her family and educating her children, the youngest of whom was only 1 year old when his father died. Not long after their move to Gwoza, a violent Islamist organization began gaining power in the area, advancing its goal of \u201cpurifying\u201d northern Nigeria for the sake of Islam. The Attack Boko Haram, whose name means \u201cWestern education is forbidden\u201d in the Hausa dialect, began waging an insurgency across northern Nigeria, targeting military installations, police stations, government buildings, churches and civilians, primarily in Borno state. By 2014, conflicts between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces had become common as the insurgents fought for control of Borno<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-5342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories","tag-nigeria","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nNigerian Widow and Children Seek Refuge After Village Attacked - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Naomi and the others kept hoping they\u2019d be able to return to their homes, but Boko Haram never left. 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