We Drank Water Only When It Rained’ – The Story Of Chibok Schoolgirl Who Spent 3 Years In Captivity

The story has been told of Lydia Joshua, a Chibok schoolgirl who spent as many as three long years in Boko Haram captivity.
Lydia Joshua, one of the 276 girls kidnapped at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state, on April 14, 2014, has disclosed that during the three years she spent in the captivity, she only drank water when it rained.
Joshua was among the captives released through a negotiation with the Boko Haram sect in 2017. She is now trying to adjust to life outside the strange environment. She narrated her experience in bondage and the plight of those who are yet to be free. Though TheCable could not freely speak to her largely due to certain governmental restrictions, her parents and loved ones were happy and enthusiastic to retell what she had told them of the dark years.
Matina Butu, the victim’s aunt told TheCable that the tales were heart-wrenching.
“The girls suffered, especially the ones who refused to marry Boko Haram. The Boko Haram people would ask the girls to raise their hands if they wanted to marry any of the men. The girls who did not express interest were starved,” said Butu who left Borno for Lagos as a result of Boko Haram activities.
SCARY TALES OF SNAKES, HUNGER AND FEAR
“When it rained, they would be drenched and their clothes would dry up on their bodies. It is also when it rains that they get to drink water. Lydia told her stories of sleeping beside snakes, going several days without food and sewing clothes with what she described as hand needles.
“They slept on flooded floors for three years. It’s only God that kept Lydia alive and I am still shocked. Lydia told me they ate leaves and when they gave them food, it was never enough until the negotiations for their release started taking place and they started giving them food.”
Butu also spoke about the trauma of Lydia’s absence and the effect of insurgency on her family.
Although she is just 26 years old, five years older than her niece, Butu is a widow with three children.
Lydia’s aunt (pictured left) and a friend at her Lagos apartment
She narrated how the insurgents killed her husband.
“Our village is empty. Nobody is there, people have gone to different places. They also took our farms so that we cannot feed any longer,” she said.

“They (Boko Haram) are leaving widows of women. They will come to your house and kill your husband and leave you alone to take care of the children. They killed my husband and I am left alone with three children take care of.”
She disclosed that Lydia’s grandfather died suddenly in 2014 because he was traumatised.
“His granddaughter had been kidnapped and shortly after, his son was beheaded in front of him,” she said.
LOVE BEYOND BORDERS
Yakubu Amos, Lydia’s boyfriend, got the test of his life when Boko Haram abducted her. A young man full of life, he could have moved on and found someone else but like a loyal partner, he stood by her all through the years in bondage. He told TheCable of his plans to marry her after school. His eyes lit up when he spoke about the time Lydia came to visit her parents in Lagos, last December.