Vestiges Of Violence

In November 2025, terrorists attacked the Government Girls Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, during the early hours of the morning and abducted 25 students. The attack added another chapter to the growing pattern of school abductions across northern Nigeria, where schools have increasingly become targets for armed groups. Although the girls returned home after nine days, the experience left l...

In the previous episode of Vestiges of Violence, we told the story of Bintu Suleiman, whose daughters and grandchildren were abducted during the attack on Ngoshe, northeastern Nigeria, on March 3, 2026. She was still waiting for news, still hoping for their return. Now, we have some updates. In this episode, her 16-year-old daughter, Aisha Muhammad Shuaibu, has escaped captivity after spending a p...

It is Ramadan, and Bintu Suleiman, a 55-year-old mother and trader from Ngoshe in Borno State, North East Nigeria, is about to break her fast with her family. Then, the gunshots begin, and within the hour, her home is on fire. As the terrorists round people up, she manages to slip away with her children and grandchildren into the bush. Later, she realises four of them did not make it with her. The...

Adisu Abba is a 45-year-old widow and the mother of five children. She comes from Dikwa, Borno State, in Nigeria’s North East. Long before violence disrupted her life, she had already begun learning the work that would define her role in her community. She had learned how to help women deliver their babies. Adisu was taken into captivity by terrorists for three years, during which she delivered fi...

Christie Garba is a 38-year-old mother of seven who lives in Billiri, Gombe State, in Nigeria’s North East. She lived in Yobe State with her family before the Boko Haram insurgency hit the region. At that time, attacks had happened in nearby places, and they had not reached her community directly. Christie and her family had stayed about four months after the attacks started, but as the violence e...

Gina Bashir is a 46-year-old farmer from Askira Uba, in Borno, northeastern Nigeria. At the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency, she lived in Benisheik, a small town in Borno, with her husband and six children. During the height of the Boko Haram insurgency, she lost her brother, nephew, and six other relatives. In this video, we talk about her survival and the ambition she has for her children

To tell stories of conflict, and show what becomes of people and communities when their lives are upended, is to witness both the depth of human suffering and the remarkable ways people adapt and survive. Through Vestiges of Violence, HumAngle has continued to shine a light on the human faces behind Nigeria’s conflicts. This year, we shared eleven stories of abduction, displacement, loss, and the...

You are nine months pregnant, barefoot, and running through thorns, dust, and fear. For nearly a decade, Ya Busam Ali has lived in displacement, walking miles each season to farm land controlled by terrorists, just to keep her and her children alive. This is her story of survival, resilience, and the loud strength that keeps her moving forward.

You used to spend long days on the farm, planting a variety of crops and bringing home a full harvest. Now, you work only a few hours under the watch of soldiers. You can’t go far from town, and you can’t plant tall crops anymore because they can conceal terrorists. So you plant only beans and groundnuts, but the yield is never enough. And each time you step onto the farm, you know you might hear...

You flee for your life when Boko Haram attacks your hometown in Adamawa, northeastern Nigeria. By the time you return, a neighbour had already begun building on your family compound. When you protest, he bribes the authorities and dismisses you, telling you that you have no one to inherit the home. Your son, who used to be your main caretaker, went missing during the war, and you have not heard fr...

You are at home, preparing for a quiet evening after your night prayers. Life is hard, but at least your family is together. Then, without warning, armed men storm into your village. They yell commands you can barely process. Panic sweeps through your body like fire. You run into the darkness, heart pounding, hoping, praying to escape. But the night offers no shield. They find you. They drag you o...

You’re at home with your husband and four children, preparing lunch like any other day. Then armed terrorists surround your town. They storm homes, steal farm produce, and kill anyone who resists. You flee into the bushes, scattering with your loved ones in different directions. When the dust settles, you are told your husband’s body has been found. Home is no longer safe, so you leave to start ov...

The most precious thing a war can take is a loved one. Sometimes, the violence is even more brutal when it offers no closure: no corpse to pray over, no grave to visit. When someone you love goes missing, and after years of not knowing and not hearing from them, you still hope for a reunion; it becomes a slow, painful wait. But what happens when it has been over a decade of waiting, and your memor...

You are married to a soldier with whom you’ve built a life and raised six children. Then, one day, he is deployed to war and never returns. Years later, as insurgency threats start to surface in your city, your son steps on a bomb that explodes. You’re uncertain whether he will survive, and you rush him to a hospital in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, hoping to give him a fighting chance...

You are a single mother of eight, raising your children in an IDP camp in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory after fleeing a brutal attack by the Boko Haram terror group. The makeshift school offers little hope for your children’s education, and your once-thriving food business barely keeps you afloat now. Aid is dwindling, and your needs keep growing. How do you cope with the demolition threats...

What do you do when your son is abducted by Boko Haram and groomed to fight for them, while you face eviction in your home? For #IWD2025, #VOV follows the life of Ya Hauwa, who rose to becoming the only woman working as a house agent in Borno, northeastern Nigeria.

In April 2024, a conflict erupted in Nasarawa, North-central Nigeria, over a land dispute, forcing many people to flee. #VOV follows the lives of two pregnant women who fled and are now displaced, dealing with an unimaginable loss.

One year of The Girls Left Behind, has anything changed? In this special podcast episode, we chat with Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu about the documentation of the #BirninYauriGirls.

One night in December, terrorists attacked a small community in Gombe, northeastern Nigeria, leaving behind burnt ruins. This episode of Vestiges of Violence narrates the story of 58-year-old Tabitha, who lost her husband that night.

Due to the insurgency in Nigeria's North East, 54-year-old Binta Bukar has been forced to relocate 13 times. This episode of #VOV narrates the story of her displacement, the loss of home, and her two children.

This episode of #VOV tells the story of Aisha, who, like her husband, was arrested by the Nigerian military. For 11 years, she lived in a cell, losing touch with her children and society. Now free, she struggles to reintegrate into society.

This podcast episode follows Maijiddah, a returnee in Nguro Soye, Borno State, Nigeria. After her husband left Boko Haram and underwent deradicalization, they started a new life in a resettled community. Now, they face the challenges of limited state support and scarce resources. Supported by the Pulitzer Center, this episode explores the resilience and democratic hopes of Nigeria’s resettled comm...

19-year-old Pwajeldi Lazarus lost her mother to a farmer-herder crisis in Numan, northeastern Nigeria. This episode of #VOV narrates Pwajeldi’s separation from her mother. As she lives with the trauma of the attack, she also mourns the only person she can run to for comfort.

Exactly one year ago today, we released our investigation on #NigeriasMassGraves, uncovering the ugly truth behind Nigeria's #missingpersons problem. In commemoration, this #podcast episode outlines what has changed so far as a result of the investigation. Host: Salman Adamu Producer: Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu Multimedia Editor: Anthony Asemota Executive Producer: Ahmad Salkida

Women in Nigeria's North West cannot go to the farm and feed their families. This is because terrorists come to rob and kill them. With their livelihoods affected, the women can no longer feed their families.