Maimuna Gawu, a resident of Gawu Babangida in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, has recounted her harrowing escape from a kidnappers’ den just hours after giving birth to twins. However, her abductors refused to release the newborns, claiming the babies belonged to them.
Maimuna was abducted after boarding a Sharon bus near the Suleja General Hospital, where she had gone for a prenatal check-up.
In an interview on the Hausa program Tsalle Daya on Prestige FM Minna, she explained that after her appointment on Thursday, the doctor informed her to return the following day for delivery. While heading home, she unknowingly boarded a vehicle operated by kidnappers.
“I left home for antenatal care because I wasn’t feeling my baby’s movements. My husband sent me money for transport,” Maimuna said. “At the park, I boarded a vehicle going to Suleja and alighted at Suleja General Hospital. After seeing the doctor, I was told to return the next day.”
She continued, “On my way back, I boarded a Sharon bus by the roadside and told the driver I was going to Lambata. When we approached my stop, I reminded the driver, and he acknowledged, but after that, I lost consciousness. I didn’t wake up until around 1 a.m. to find myself on a bed in an unknown location with a drip attached to me. Shortly after, I went into labor and delivered twin boys.”
Maimuna recalled hearing her babies crying but falling asleep again due to exhaustion. When she woke up the next morning and inquired about her children, an unfamiliar woman told her the twins were not hers.
“They said the babies belonged to them. I cried and begged them to give me my babies, but they refused,” she said.
That night, under the cover of darkness, Maimuna saw an opportunity to escape. After her captors removed the drip and left to attend a meeting with their leader, she fled the location and eventually found herself in Kagara, Rafi Local Government Area.
Her ordeal highlights the dangers many face in Nigeria’s ongoing security crisis. The whereabouts of her abducted twins remain unknown.
