Boko Haram survivors meet Pope on Women's Day

(8 Mar 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Vatican City - 8 March 2023 1. Wide of Saint Peter’s Basilica during Pope's weekly audience 2. Pope Francis meeting Jarada Marcus and Mariamu Joseph, Nigerian women who escaped from Boko Haram captivity 3. Jarada Marcus (left) and Mariamu Joseph (right) taking pictures in Saint Peter’s Square 4. Photo of Pope Francis in Mariamu's hands ASSOCIATED PRESS Vatican City - 7 March 2023 5. Jarada Marcus (right) crying and Mariamu Joseph (left) during news conference 6. Jarada Marcus crying 7. SOUNDBITE (Hausa) Jarada Marcus, 22 year-old Nigerian woman who was held captive and had her relatives killed by Boko Haram: ++TRANSLATION PROVIDED BY PRIEST ACCOMPANYING THEM++ “What I saw, what I experienced, is that these people (held captive by Boko Haram) have suffered but did not have the chance to escape and free themselves. If there is anybody who in anyway could bring them help to set them free, it would be great.” 8. Jarada Marcus and Mariamu Joseph during news conference 9. SOUNDBITE (Hausa) Jarada Marcus, 22 year-old Nigerian woman who was held captive and had her relatives killed by Boko Haram: ++TRANSLATION PROVIDED BY PRIEST ACCOMPANYING THEM++ “I wish my future to be bright, but most of all, there are girls who do not have the same opportunity as me. I wish their future would be bright too.” 10. Journalist taking photo during news conference 11. Various of world map highlighting religious persecution, countries in black labelled "extreme" 12. SOUNDBITE (Hausa) Mariamu Joseph, 19-year-old Nigerian woman who was held captive by Boko Haram: ++TRANSLATION PROVIDED BY PRIEST ACCOMPANYING THEM++ “There are still people in their (Boko Haram’s) hands. I wish they could be freed too. Also I want my future to be bright, as everybody else’s, because I haven’t had a beautiful life, I wish my future will be bright from now on.” 13. Close-up of Mariamu Joseph 14. Jarada Marcus and Mariamu Joseph posing for photograph STORYLINE: Pope Francis met two Nigerian women, formerly held by Boko Haram militants, on International Women's Day. The two girls escaped from Boko Haram’s captivity after enduring years of violence. Both Christian, they were brought to meet the Pope and Italian policymakers by a Vatican NGO. Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadi rebels, launched an insurgency in 2009 to fight against western education and to establish Islamic Shariah law in Nigeria. At least 35,000 people have been killed and 2.1 million people displaced as a result of the extremist violence, according to data from United Nations agencies in Nigeria. Nigerian security forces have repeatedly claimed victory in the war against Boko Haram and its offshoot the Islamic State in West Africa Province. But spontaneous attacks still target remote communities that have little security presence. Thousands are believed to be held captive by the group which forces people to convert to Islam. The conflict has spilled over to Nigeria’s neighbours Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Both women briefly met with journalists Tuesday, emotionally recalling their past traumatic experiences. They told reporters how Boko Haram was forcing them to convert to Islam and wanted them to get married to members of the group. 22-year-old Jarada Marcus was kidnapped and released several times by Boko Haram militants. Extremists killed her father in front of her. She finally found sanctuary at a Catholic association’s centre in northeastern Nigeria. AP video shot by Paolo Lucariello and Gianfranco Stara Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...