After an initial rescue of 293 females by the Nigerian troops from Boko Haram, 234 women and children were reportedly rescued by the Nigerian Army from the Sambisa Forest in Borno State two days ago.
However, according to a recent report, a fairly large number of the rescued girls appeared visibly pregnant, and unofficial reports put the latest number of pregnant girls in one of the camps in Borno as of last Saturday at 214, according to Vanguard.
Executive Director, UNFPA, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, while speaking in Lagos recently disclosed that the organization had taken deliveries of over 16,000 pregnancies in the troubled North Eastern part of Nigeria in the last one year, .
He also touched on the state of the girls, explaining that most of them will require a special set of services that would facilitate their integration into society because of the long period they had spent in captivity.
“What we found is that some of the women and girls that have come back actually have much more in terms of the stress they have faced, so the counselling has to be more intense and working with them one-on-one.
“I’m glad the communities are not excommunicating them and are taking them back. That is an important therapy too. We anticipate this is going to escalate because the military intervention is continuing, we find that more people are now needing our services and we will continue,” he stated.
“UNFPA is providing dignity for women. In conflict and disasters, most people would only think of water and sanitation, provision of tents and housing, and food, which are all important. But women and girls have specific needs that nobody else looks after; it is only UNFPA that is doing this. We are giving psychosocial counselling.
“Beyond that, in the growing young people, we will always have pregnant women, but nobody segregates the needs of the pregnant women which are very important and different from the needs of the average community. We look after them, and ensure they get antenatal care and that they deliver properly and that they even get Caesarean Section when necessary.”
