Crowned the most dangerous and deadliest terrorist organization in the world, The extremist group Boko Haram operates mostly in Nigeria and they've killed more innocent people than ISIS.
These powerful images published by Metro UK show the brave but broken survivors of Boko Haram.
Photographer, Ruth McDowall, explained that both boys and girls abducted by Boko Haram are often threatened into marriage, enslaved, forced to convert and raped.
Others are trained in killing and given guns and girls as young as 11-years-old are being sent out as suicide bombers.
In each image, the survivor tells of their harrowing experience at the hands of Boko Haram.
Meet Hauwa, 15
In 2009, Hauwa and a friend were abducted by a couple who knew her mother. They were members of Boko Haram. The woman said she’d like to make the two young girls her ‘Muslim daughters’.
Her friend was raped by the man and fell pregnant.
The girls eventually managed to escape after hitting the woman with a brick and locking her inside the house.
When she returned to her family Hauwa found out her father had been killed.
Meet Blessing, 19
In September 2013 Boko Haram broke into Blessing’s house and shot her brother.
She was abducted and forced into a marriage with an insurgent called Abul.
She managed to run away with two other girls.
Meet Martha, 14
Martha was captured by Boko Haram in 2014 while on her way to a wedding. They killed her brother and abducted Martha and her sisters and held them in a camp near Gulak.
She said: ‘I stayed there for four months. I suffered greatly during this time, sometimes there was not enough food and I hardly bathed.
‘I met some of the Chibok girls, and they had been taught to kill people. They tried to force my sister to kill an old man, when she refused they shot her instead, I watched people being slaughtered like ants.’
Martha pretended she needed the toilet and managed to sneak away during the night.
Meet Hannah, 15
Hannah’s house was raided in 2013, she and all of her female relatives were taken.
Hannah was forced into marriage while she was just 14 years old.
Since her escape she’s struggled with memories of being help captive, but hopes to complete her education and become a business woman.
Meet Lydia, born in 1994
Lydia was captured while on a bus home from school and held at a Boko Haram camp in the Sambisa forest.
She was forced to change religion and often wouldn’t eat for days as rumours circulated about the terror group feeding hostages human flesh.
Eventually some of the insurgents realised they knew Lydia’s family and they let her go – an extremely rare occurrence.
Meet Markus, 28
Markus was taken while in hospital recovering from a road accident in 2014.
He was held for nine months and often other hostages were killed right in front of him.
Markus had to bide his time until his leg was healed, so waited until rainy season when he could run away without his steps being tracked.
He is still too afraid to return to his home town.
Meet Mairama, 16
Boko Haram raided Mairama’s village in 2013.
She was enslaved into cooking duties in a Gwoza hills camp and forced to marry.
Another woman showed her the path to escape and they spent two whole days walking and running through the bush.
Mairama’s now back in school and she hopes to one day become a nurse.
Meet Sarah, 20
Sarah, 20, was captured when a Boko Haram member posed as a public bus driver.
She was held hostage for three days before being released.
Meet Ladi, age unknown
Ladi was snatched in 2013 while farming near her home in Gwoza.
She spent three months in a Boko Haram camp.
One day she faked severe stomach pains so she would be taken to a nearby hospital, that’s how she escaped.
Ladi’s not at school any more and she has found it extremely difficult to come to terms with her ordeal.
These are the victims who managed to get away with their lives, many others weren’t so lucky.
Most of the young people that were abducted by Boko Haram have moved to new cities for their own safety.
The Chibok attack on April 14 2014 was the largest case of Boko Haram abductions, 276 girls taken, 57 managed to esape. It brought the attention of the world on Nigeria and the atrocities caused by Boko Haram.
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