HEALTH checks on the number of rescued women and children freed from Boko Haram over recent weeks has revealed that at least 214 of them are pregnant having been put in the family way by the terrorists.  

Last Tuesday, the Nigerian Army rescued after 200 girls and 93 women from Boko Haram in Sambisa Forest and on Friday, this was followed up with a further rescuing of 234 women and children.  They have since been handed over to humanitarian agencies like the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), who have been carrying out health checks on the victims. 

Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA's executive director said that the latest pregnancies were part of a trend as over the last one year, the organisation had taken deliveries of over 16,000 pregnancies in Nigeria's troubled northeast. He added that in anticipation of the magnitude of the problem, the UNFPA had put in place a formidable team in collaboration with the federal and state governments to first restore the dignity of the girls, who, he said, are facing severe psychosocial trauma. 

On the state of the girls, he explained that most of them, due to the long period spent in captivity, required a special set of services that would facilitate their integration into society. Very busy in Nigeria lately, the UNFPA is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. 

Professor Osotimehin said: “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 as that is an important therapy too." 

He added that the UNFPA had trained 60 counsellors to offer psychosocial services to the affected women and children. He noted that those trained were people from the affected communities, who understand the context and sociology of the people. 

"In conflict and disasters, most people would only think of water and sanitation, provision of tents and housing and food, which are all important. However, women and girls have specific needs that nobody else looks after and it is only UNFPA that is doing this as 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," Professor Osotimehin added.