Nigerian Government Caring for Women Freed From Boko Haram

The Nigerian government announced this week that the nearly 300 women recently freed from a Boko Haram stronghold in the northeastern part of the country are being cared for by government aids.

The nearly 300 women and girls have reportedly been relocated to a refugee camp also located in the northeastern region of the country, where they have been provided food, water, clothes and medical assistance.

Several of the women have been reported pregnant and are being tested for a variety of diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

Survivors of the Boko Hara hostage situation have provided horrific accounts of their time in captivity to local media outlets.

One woman, who goes by the name Samira, told Al Jazeera of her recent escape from the terrorist group when militants invaded her hometown of Michika late last year.

"For three weeks we survived on wild fruits, and our children were getting sick," Samira, whose husband was killed by the terrorist group, told the media outlet.

"At nights we would run in the villages to fetch water from the wells, but sometimes we could hear gunshots. Then we knew they [Boko Haram] were there and they would kill us."

Zara Malam, who was recently a hostage of the terrorist group, said her son suffers from malnutrition after they were held hostage for several months before being freed.

"They (Boko Haram) did nothing for my son and the same for the other children [...] No food, no clothing, no water [...] Not a single thing," Malam recently told the AFP.