A Nigerian girl who was kidnapped in January has made a daring escape from her Islamist captors. Her story, however, is a fortunate one compared to the numerous others who are kidnapped, raped and forcibly converted to Islam.

Sadiya Amos, aged 17, went missing from north central Kaduna in northern Nigeria in January.

Sadiya says she was abducted, kept in a locked room for over a month and forced to convert to Islam; some men guarded her room so she couldn’t escape. But one day, they all fell asleep leaving the door open; she quickly ran out and back to her parents.

The Hausa Christian Foundation (HACFO) has rescued a number of girls from similar circumstances over the past three years from across northern Nigeria. HACFO’s leader Joshua Danlami said while parents fight to free their daughters, the abductors sexually abuse the girls, spike their food and drink, control what they wear and where they sleep, and continually evoke evil spirits upon them to the point that these girls lose their minds and can’t think of going back to their homes.

“Usually, the moment a Christian girl is abducted, her abductors ensure that they marry her off within one or two weeks. Even before marriage, she will be sexually abused to try to make her parents give up on her when she becomes pregnant.

“There are two major objectives behind the incessant kidnapping of Christian girls and their forceful conversion to Islam: one -to inflict pain on the girl, her parents and the Christian community; and, two, to make the girl pregnant so that her child will then be born into Islam, contributing to claims that it’s the fastest growing religion in the world.”