Ngouboua--Almost two months after Boko Haram raided and pillaged her village in Chad, mother of seven Zara Isenik still lives in constant terror.
At the slightest strange noise, she says, she "runs to hide in the bush".
The cross-border raid by the ruthless Nigerian Islamists left mental and visible physical scars on a Lake Chad village that had previously been so peaceful that Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram used to come to seek sanctuary.
Many houses torched by the militants in Ngouboua have yet to be repaired. Livelihoods were ruined and fear reigns.
In the early hours of February 12, jihadist militants crossed Lake Chad by boat under cover of darkness and torched the village of 6,000 people in a brutal onslaught.
Isenik and her children were asleep, while her husband -- a Chadian army soldier -- was on the frontlines fighting Boko Haram on Niger's frontier with Nigeria.
"They arrived at around 4:00 am (0200 GMT). We heard gunfire ringing out in the night and we understood," Isenik said in a soft voice, squatting with her back against the wall of her torched home.
As she fled, she says she crossed paths with a group of armed men who were "very young and were dressed in black" and carried Kalashnikovs. But they let her go and after just two hours, the assault was over.
"Everything was burnt. The TV, my clothes, my jewellery, the sacks of corn I was supposed to sell on the market, and three million CFA francs ($5,000 or 4,500 euros) in cash -- all our savings," she said.
The Boko Haram militants kicked off their raid by attacking a military post located at Ngouboua's entrance.
Chadian forces, backed by military aircraft, returned fire, routing the militants and destroying their small boats.
But even though Boko Haram did not occupy the Chadian village, its fighters were merciless in the destruction they sowed while retreating.
Even 67 sheep kept near Isenik's home were burned to death. They were among 400 farm animals killed. Two hundred motorcycles were also destroyed.
The village chief, a soldier and several civilians were killed that night, but there was so much chaos that their bodies were not found immediately.
AFP
