Two Chibok girls rescued from the lair of Boko Haram terrorists have bemoaned the discrimination and stigmatisation they allegedly face from officials and students of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), who label them “government children” and avoid interacting with them.

The Chibok schoolgirls kidnap survivors, Amina Ali and Jummai Muttah, appeared on Arise TV on Friday morning to describe how they spent the last 10 years enduring humiliation and discrimination from friends and strangers, including employees and students of the American University of Nigeria, who constantly “looked down” on them.

Kidnapped in 2014, Ms Ali escaped from her captors in 2016. She and other abducted students who regained freedom were awarded scholarships by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to enrol in the university to continue their studies.

But her educational journey in AUN had proved more arduous than originally thought, Ms Ali admitted.

She explained that her educational background (both primary and secondary schools) in Chibok, where she was taught in the native Hausa language, did not adequately prepare her for the high standards of AUN, as she was only starting to improve her oral English.

Due to her challenge in communicating in English and her kidnapping experience, Ms Ali said she was constantly picked on and mocked by her peers and even school officials.

“The way they are used (sic) to look down on us. We also face the issue of discouragement because of how we speak. Back in Chibok, some of our teachers used to teach us in Hausa. We didn’t even know how to speak from JSS1 to SS3. We just started learning to speak English after we came out (of captivity),” Ms Ali said on Arise TV. 

Ms Ali, captured at 17 years, said AUN lecturers often disregarded her class assignments, which she found “discouraging.” 

“So, we are not good at that. So, in our present school, instead of encouraging us that we should not give up, they discourage us and anything we do, they would not appreciate,” she stated.

Ms Ali, now 27 years old, said the school authority rebuffed her complaints, telling her and other survivors to be grateful for their government scholarship and stop complaining.

“Sometimes, if we complain to some of the school authorities, they will say that you are government children. Are you the only people that Boko Haram kidnapped? Government spend Nigeria’s money on you, yet you still complain of how people treat you. That’s what they used to tell us,” Ms Ali recounted.

Another survivor and AUN student, Ms Muttah, corroborated Ms Ali’s statement and said, “We are not happy with what is happening.”

Ms Muttah, who regained freedom in May 2017 — after languishing for three years in captivity — said students “run away” from them when shared into groups for class assignments. 

“Even the students complain that when we have some assignments group when they hear that we are part of Chibok girls, they will run away,” Ms Muttah narrated her stigmatisation ordeal at AUN. “They don’t want to do assignments with us.”

“So, this thing discourage(sic) us in school, and it makes us wonder why people hate us so much.”

Ms Muttah implied the discrimination in AUN further damaged her self-esteem, given that she was still healing from the stigmatisation of Chibok residents who also labelled her child —conceived in captivity after being defiled by terrorists— “Boko Haram child.”

The management of the American University of Nigeria did not immediately respond to an enquiry seeking comments on the matter.

AUN is an expensive private institution that charges millions of naira for tuition fees. It is owned by former vice president and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar.