‘Tell my parents I’m in trouble’ — nurse abducted in Rann speaks

In the audio sent to one of her male friends, Leman who spoke in Hausa demanded that her parents be informed that she had been kidnapped.

Running and panting, the victim said: “We are under attack in Rann. They are shooting everywhere please pray for me; please go and tell my parents that I am in trouble.

“Please, look for Fatima and tell her they are taking us away. They have entered here now…”

At that point, a male voice ordered her to keep quiet and not to move an inch. That was the last that was heard from Leman, a 24, year-old student studying health education at the University of Maiduguri.

Boko Haram fighters had invaded Rann, a town in Kala Balge local government area of Borno state, on Thursday.

Four soldiers, four policemen and three humanitarian aid workers were killed in the attack, which led to the abduction of Leman.

According to reports, an international organisation contracted the nurse to work in Rann for a period of three months.

Abdulhameed Algarzali, editor-in-chief of YERWA EXPRESS NEWS, a local Newspaper in Maiduguri, who is a friend of the victim, said the nurse assumed work two weeks ago.

Algarzali said Leman told him she was going to spend two weeks in Gamboru-Ngala, headquarters of Ngala local government area of Borno when she visited him the night before the incident.

He said family members and friends of Leman thought she was working at Gamboru Ngala.

“It seems she did not disclose that she was posted to Rann… why she refused to do so is not clear,” he said.

“I did not believe the story at first because the Hauwa I met a day to her journey told me she was going to Gamboru Ngala for just two weeks.

“It is surprising therefore that this happened to her in Rann. I mean how did she get there?

“It’s possible she did it deliberately to avoid causing unnecessary panic, considering the situation in Rann, or to avoid being stopped by her family. But another possibility is that her employer, an international humanitarian organisation providing medical assistance to over 40,000 displaced persons, misinformed her of the true posting.”   (The Cable)