•Teenage victims thank missionary group for giving them succour, education
By Rebecca Opaluwa
Very many Nigerians are victims of the Boko Harm insurgency in the North-Eastern part of the country. Among the victims are children. They too have drunk the insurgents’ water of brutality to the dregs.
When the crisis started years ago, many thought it was a child’s play. But gradually, it took a different dimension when people began to lose their lives and property. The crisis began to spread from the rural areas, then gradually to local government headquarters before reaching the cities.
The losses suffered by many victims of Boko Haram knew no bounds. Many homes of Muslims, Christians and animists alike were attacked. Residents were killed. Many were dispersed by the attacks of the infamous Boko Haram. They are now in the Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps. They have been turned to beggars because they have no other vocation and no one to direct them. Most of the displaced children are not attending any school.
At the moment, many victims of Boko Haram insurgency only have their fate in God. They merely pray for better days, with some religious bodies coming to fill the void that had been created in their lives. One of such groups is Voice of the Christian Martyrs (VOM), founded by late Pastor Isaac Richard Wumbrand. The group always comes to offer immediate financial assistance to victims of the insurgency, particularly the widows. They follow up with gifts and materials like food and other items, including grinding machines which the beneficiaries use in generating money for the upkeep of their families.
The VOM, Daily Sun learned, has a subsidiary called Stephen Centre International. It has presence in various cities. It trains widows and their dependants and aid a lot more people to find their footing once again in the society. The charity group, it was gathered, was named after Stephen, the first martyr in the Bible. Orphans whose relations cannot afford to send to schools are recommended by church leaders and even officials of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to obtain free education at the Stephen Centre International group of schools in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Isaac Oluwole Newton Wosu, President of VOM Nigeria and founder of the Stephen Children’s Home, Abeokuta, spoke to Daily Sun on the mission of the group. He said the home was dedicated to children, who lost one or both parents to the religious crisis. He recalled that the missionary journey started in Kaduna.
“I was working with the mission called Voice of the Christian Martyrs. Part of our work was to give relief to Christians, who were persecuted because of their faith. It all started in Kaduna in year 2000. We were giving food, blankets and mattresses to widows and IDPs in the refugee camp.
“We started with two ladies who gave birth to girls and named them both Mary. The circumstances around the birth of both babies excited me and it was a good feeling having them.
“After the incident, I thought about bringing eight other children into the kindergarten school in Abeokuta where I reside. This was how I started and the kids multiplied vastly; we started having a lot more challenges with the accommodation but we were later blessed with our present location in Obantoko, Abeokuta.”
He further recalled how people doubted the vision he had to establish the home at its launch but noted that everyone was now surprised by the current number of inmates, which stood at 400 children as at last year. Wosu expressed gratitude to God for the journey so far.
Daily Sun had an encounter with a 17-year-old boy in the orphanage, named James Sunday. The teenager narrated the life-changing experience he had, which led to his arrival at the orphanage.
“I lived with my parents at Dogonawa in Plateau State until our home was invaded by some gunmen one fateful night. We were sleeping when we heard gunshots. My father went outside to check what was going on. Later my mother followed, but they never came back.
“A few minutes later, I heard my mother shout “run!” That was when I knew that there was trouble.”
Sunday said he and his sibling tried to escape from their home when it was set ablaze by the assailants. He said at that time, they heard the sound of vehicles and the approach of soldiers and soon ran to meet them only to realise that they were also gunmen.
“On discovering that, we ran in separate ways for our lives. But unfortunately, I was captured and taken to a site where I was tormented and lacerated with knives till they concluded that I was dead.”
Sunday recalled that he was later hauled into a burning house by his assailants but was later saved by a rescue team, comprising soldiers and policemen, who arrived in the area. He said he was taken to a hospital and it was while he was there that he was picked up by members of VOM and was then taken to Stephen Children Home, Abeokuta, where he currently resides and receives quality education.
Wandia and Praise Wilson, aged 15 and 13 years, respectively are siblings. They told Daily Sun how their home was invaded by the Boko Haram but were later rescued by the missionary group and brought to Abeokuta.
The Wilsons are inmates at the home in Abeokuta. They said the Boko Haram group attacked their home three years ago in Adamawa State while they were at school. Their mum, they said, had come to pick them up when suddenly bombs and bullets started flying all over the place in their neighbourhood. They recalled that everyone started fleeing in different directions for their lives. But unfortunately, they were captured by the terrorists and held hostage for a month in a location before the Nigerian Army rescued them. Afterwards, the army moved them to a refugee camp in Yola where they were treated.
The Wilson brothers were both injured during the attack; the younger Wilson, Praise, lost an eye and sustained a few injuries. They said the family found out about Stephen’s Children Home from an uncle and visited the branch in Jos where they were interviewed and later taken to the head office in Abeokuta.
The Wilsons expressed gratitude to the missionary group for providing for their needs and education.
Stephen Centre International urged Nigerians to be a part of its missionary’s vision by making donations to sustain victims of the insurgents’ brutality.