Daily Gist & Guide

 A mother's extraordinary fight to protect her daughter from Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria became one of the most remarkable survival stories reported in 2017. In 2014, as Boko Haram insurgents tightened their grip on communities in northeastern Nigeria, a mother named Zainabu Hamayaji faced a terrifying choice: risk losing her young daughter to the insurgents or find a way to keep her hidden. She chose to hide her daughter, Hassana, in a ditch for nine months. To protect the child from possible abduction and forced marriage, Zainabu devised an extraordinary plan. While Hassana remained hidden underground, her mother pretended to have a mental illness in the hope that the insurgents would leave her family alone. Her story was reported in 2017 by The Guardian Nigeria and NPR, drawing attention to the extreme measures some families took to survive Boko Haram's violence. How the Ordeal Began Zainabu and her family lived in Madagali, Adamawa State, an area severely affected by...