Business
How 14-Year-old Chibok girl escaped Captivity without the help of Nigerian Army
The newly-freed Chibok schoolgirl, Salomi Pogu, who was abducted by Boko Haram in 2014 but rescued last week, has given details of how she managed to escape from her captors.
Pogu, who was amongst over 200 school girls kidnapped by the militant group, is the latest of 107 girls to either escape, be rescued or freed.
The Nigerian Army said Pogu and another Boko Haram captive, Jamila Adamu, a 14-year-old teenager who was found with a baby, were rescued on January 4.
msisdn: 2348155746559
rat: UTRAN
The two girls have now spoken exclusively to PREMIUM TIMES from a government safe-house where they are being accommodated by the Borno state government.
The girls said they regained their freedom after many months of trying to escape from their abductors.
Their narrative was that of two courageous young women from different backgrounds, bound by the same fate and determination to survive.
While Salomi was abducted at the age of 15, Jamila, the girl who later become her bosom friend said she was only 11 years old when Boko Haram abducted her from Pulka village of Gwoza local government, three years back.
The two girls had their share of unpleasant experiences under the captivity of one of the world’s deadliest terror groups.
Salomi met Jamila, who was abducted alongside her eldest sister, in 2015.
Except for their ability to speak Hausa, the two girls had nothing in common in terms of religion, native language and education.
Salomi, a Christian from Chibok, was in her final year in secondary school when she was seized, while Jamila, a Muslim from Gwoza, had never attended a school before she was taken captive.
After years of being with the Boko Haram fighters who subjected them to agony and slavery, the girls were married off and taken to a village called Ndugne under Gwoza local government area.
Before that, the girls said they were moved to different villages, where they would live for months, as their abductors tried to avoid being attacked by troops of the Nigerian military.
“We became friends with Salomi because we lived close to one another in the captured village of Ndugne,” said Jamila, who is still nursing a 16 months baby girl, Hasiya. Apparently poorly fed, the toddler looks like an eight-month-old.
For the obvious reason that their place of captivity was a terrain she was familiar with, Jamila deployed her knowledge of the area to plot their escape.
The two friends, who now relate almost like sisters, said they attempted to escape in the past but without success. They were never caught, though.
Despite their age difference, Salomi found the younger Jamila a friend she could confide in and who understood and empathised with her weak nature as someone who usually falls sick.
Doctors in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, have just diagnosed her to be anaemic.
Salomi had two marriages, while Jamila had broken off with the man with whom she bore a daughter. Had the latter not plotted their escape, she would have been forced to enter into yet another forced marriage.
The two girls said they were not assisted to escape on the night they carried out their final and successful move to leave the clutches of the insurgents.
“We escaped on our own in the night and ran through the bush until we got to the soldiers’ post in Pulka village near Gwoza,” said Jamila.
They both said it was suicidal for anyone to contemplate escaping during the day time.
“We sneaked out of the village at about one o’clock in the night when everywhere is quiet and most people, including the Boko Haram watchmen were asleep. And we got to the soldiers’ security post at about 2 a.m.
The girls explained that the distance between the village where they were kept and the soldiers’ security post ”was not much.”
“It was not that far, though we were walking and running till we got there,” Salomi chipped in.
“The soldiers ordered us to stop at a distance,” Jamila continued.
“They beamed light on us and asked us to strip off all our clothes to assure them we were not carrying anything that could harm them. So we had to pull off our clothes completely and when they saw nothing on us, they then asked us to dress up. That was when they allowed us to advance closer before we told them that we were abductees fleeing from one of the camps,” said Jamila.
The girls said the soldiers became excited when they found out that Salomi Pogu was one of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
“That was not our first attempt at escaping. We tried it before but we got lost in the dark, not knowing which direction to take, so we had to return to the village again,” said Salomi.
The two girls said their escape was a ”matter of do or die.”
If they remained with Boko Haram, they might still die either of the increasing hunger in the camps or they could as well be hit in the crossfire during a shootout, they said.
Many women and children were killed during shootouts, they added.
Jamila said she knew the dangers of plotting an escape. She had witnessed the killing of those who were caught trying to escape.
She said if caught trying to escape, she would possibly have been the first to be executed because their abductors knew she is from Gwoza and must have been the person that encouraged Salomi to escape.
“Some that were caught trying to escape for the first time were flogged and warned not to try it again. But others that were caught were either slaughtered or shot in the head. Many girls and boys were shot in the head for trying to escape. But helping someone to escape is even more dangerous,” said Jamila.
Business
Festus Keyamo has proven that he is a true son of Delta State through Warri Airport – Igosave
The Nigerian Passport Rip-Off: A Symbol of National Disgrace and Diaspora Exploitation
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
When former Rivers State Governor and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, openly admitted that the Nigerian passport is “almost worthless abroad,” he wasn’t exaggerating. In fact, his words captured the daily humiliation faced by millions of Nigerians across the globe. Despite the glaring decline in its global value, the Nigerian passport remains one of the most expensive in the world. This contradiction (PAYING A PREMIUM PRICE FOR A DOCUMENT THAT INVITES SUSPICION AND REJECTION AT BORDERS) is not just illogical; it’s criminal.
Today, in 2025, Nigerians in the diaspora are being bled dry under the pretext of acquiring basic identity documents. The National Identity Number (NIN), originally meant to be a free or affordable civic right, has become a commercial racket. It now costs as high as R1,250 (about ₦110,000) even for a six-year-old child in obtaining a NIN in South Africa. This isn’t just unethical, it’s extortion.
This is a business for someone at others’ pains,” lamented Rika Augusta, a frustrated Nigerian mother in South Africa whose six-year-old daughter was forced to pay the full amount just to be recognised as Nigerian.
For a country ranked 131st out of 139 countries on the Henley Passport Index in terms of travel freedom, the price Nigerians pay for this underperforming passport is nothing short of madness. According to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the “enhanced e-passport” costs between ₦400,000 to ₦600,000, excluding service charges imposed by third-party agencies such as OIS and other consular fees. These costs triple when processed from abroad.
Benjy Oloye, a Nigerian in South Africa, echoes the frustration of many:
“I captured in January. Since then, it’s been one story after another. Till today, nothing. Is this a passport or a miracle
we’re praying for?”
The bottlenecks and delays are not merely bureaucratic hiccups;
they are deliberate schemes. The outsourcing of biometric capture and passport
issuance to third-party companies like Online Integrated Services (OIS) has become a well-oiled machine of financial exploitation. Nigerians are forced to pay additional “admin” and “service” fees that are neither regulated nor justified.
“OIS service fee: R100.
Consulate admin fee:
R350.
This is an organised
scam,” revealed Bennie, another Nigerian in
South Africa who has meticulously documented every extra cost.
One wonders: How did we get here?
The Politics of Pain and Profit
The answer is simple; GREED. The Nigerian system is deeply infested with a culture of monetising misery. From driver’s licenses to passports and now even the NIN, everything has become a money-making scheme for a few elites at the expense of 220 million Nigerians.
Pastor Israel Angel White, based in Pretoria, aptly described the situation:
“Some guys are making money out of this, no doubt. Greed is in their DNA. It’s awful.”
This systemic extortion is especially cruel for those in the diaspora who have already endured the trauma of leaving their homeland in search of better opportunities. They contribute over $25 billion annually in remittances, yet they are treated as nothing more than ATM machines by the Nigerian government.
“The Nigerian government sees those of us in the diaspora as nothing more than a cash cow,” says a Nigerian professional in Cape Town. “We’re paying premium prices for substandard services and being told to smile while doing it.”
Data Don’t Lie
Let’s take a moment to compare:
United States Passport: $165 (~₦250,000) with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to over 180 countries.
United Kingdom Passport: £82.50 (~₦130,000) with 190+ countries accessible.
Nigerian Passport: ₦400,000+ with access to barely 46 countries visa-free, mostly in West Africa.
So why does the Nigerian passport cost more than world-leading passports? Why does a six-year-old child have to pay same as an adult to get a NIN? The answer lies not in logistics or technology, but in intentional extortion.
A Culture of Silence and Endurance
What’s perhaps more disturbing is how this exploitation has been normalised. Nigerians, whether at home or abroad, have become so accustomed to pain and systemic failure that they rarely push back.
“We can’t afford it; it’s a lot of money. But one thing about being Nigerian is that we’ve mastered the art of adapting, even to pain,” said one diaspora student in Durban. “We’ve normalized struggle so much that we don’t even question it anymore.”
But enough is enough. There must be a call for mass mobilisation. Nigerians in the diaspora are more than 17 million strong and their voices can no longer be silenced. Imagine if each of them sent an email or letter demanding reform, that kind of pressure is impossible to ignore.
The Diaspora Must Lead the Charge
The diaspora cannot remain passive observers. We must become vocal actors. Through organised action ie: letters, petitions, lobbying international media and using legal mechanisms in host countries, yes we can expose and dismantle this daylight robbery.
We must ask:
Why is there no price differentiation for children and economically disadvantaged citizens?
Why are there no audit reports on the revenue generated from these services?
Why are third-party companies allowed to fleece Nigerians without regulatory oversight?
Why is the Nigerian passport not getting global upgrade despite its inflated cost?
If answers are not provided, then accountability must be demanded.
A National Shame
This entire mess speaks to the deeper rot in Nigeria’s governance system. A government that cannot deliver something as basic as a passport or identity card is one that has failed fundamentally. It is a betrayal of trust, an insult to every citizen who dreams of a better life under the green-white-green flag.
When identity becomes a luxury, then nationality becomes a prison.
This is not just about passports and NIN. It’s about the dignity of Nigerians. It’s about fighting a system that sees its own people as prey. It’s about saying “No more!” to those who profit from our pain.
Final Thoughts: Nigeria, We Hail Thee?
Indeed, “Nigeria we hail thee” not in reverence, but in disbelief. For how long shall citizens continue to bleed for basic rights? For how long shall diaspora Nigerians, the backbone of our economic survival, be treated as expendable wallets?
The time to act is now.
As long as we remain silent, they will continue to inflate our costs, delay our documents, insult our intelligence and trample on our dignity.
The Nigerian passport saga is not just a national embarrassment, it is a scandal, a theft and a crime against citizenship.
George Omagbemi Sylvester
Political Analyst, Diaspora Advocate and Contributor to SaharaWeeklyNG.com
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