Widowed by Boko Haram, abandoned by the military

Although the military and indeed the Federal Government have declared victory over Boko Haram in their over six-year battle against the dreaded terror sect, the widows of the heroes of the war are far from being relieved. In fact, it appears their own anguish and nightmares have just begun.

No doubt, the fight against terrorism and insurgency in the country has equally taken a toll on the military with the killings of some of its personnel. Just as the military has been claiming successes on the battlefield, so also reports of casualties suffered by government troops have been filtering out. The war has indeed left many military family members without breadwinners. The government as part of its responsibilities promised to take care of the families of fallen soldiers.

For many of these families, the promise by government has remained a mere rhetoric, as they continue to complain that neither the Federal Government nor the Nigerian Army has come to their aid to bring up their children. The widows complained that since their breadwinners died in battlefield in Borno State and other parts of the Northeast theatre of war, things have been very difficult and they now worry about the fate of their children who struggle to go to school.

Estimated to be well over 1000, some of the widows lamented the death of their husbands, insisting that they have not even been told anything about the whereabouts of their husbands. They lamented that the promises made to them when their husbands died since 2014 till date have not been kept.

Ene Alidu from Benue State whose husband died on November 15 last year asked the government to fulfill all the promises made in the condolence letter issued to them when their husbands died. “I want them to take care of my three kids as they promised. They are David  8, Joshua 6, and the new kid who is about a year plus. We were given condolence letters where it was stated that, they would pay his salary until all his benefits are out. They have been paying his salary as promised but they are yet to fulfill other promises”.

Ene said she was pregnant when her husband died and was waiting for her husband to come back and see his baby, before she got the unfortunate news. She lamented that her husband was buried without her consent. “The most annoying thing about my husband’s death is that when he died I did not even see his corpse, and they buried him without my consent”