Abuja: A Nigerian Catholic girl who was forced to watch his father's beheading before being kidnapped and tormented for days has forgiven his tormentors and expressed hope for the militants' salvation.

Janada Marcus tells the story of her family's suffering at the hands of militants who she claims committed "the unfathomable" to them in a report released on Tuesday, November 15 by the Catholic Pontifical and charitable organisation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International.

"They pointed a machete at my father and told him they would set us free if he had sex with me," she says. "I have forgiven them in my heart, and I pray for the redemption of their souls".

Janada and her family have fled two attacks by militants, once fleeing their home in Nigeria's Lake Chad region and a second time fleeing their new home in Askira Uba, in Southern Borno State. Their house was burned down, and a number of relatives were killed by the terrorist.

The 22-year-old and her family fled from Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria after their village was overrun by the militant group.

Janada narrated to ACN that on settling in Maiduguri, her father obtained a piece of land and started farming to fend for the family.

We were at the farm, working happily, and singing some Catholic songs to raise our spirits when suddenly we were surrounded by militants," Janada says.

She narrates that her family was crushed when the militants forced her father to sleep with her, adding that her father chose to die instead. "I decided to remain calm and let God perform a miracle," Zainab Yusuf, from Maiduguri, says.

"I avoided eye contact with my father because I was ashamed to look him in the face, ashamed of what the men had suggested – it was an abomination," the Nigerian girl says.

She continues, “My father put his head down in submission to be killed and answered: ‘I cannot sleep with my own flesh and blood, my own daughter, I would rather die than commit this abomination.’… On hearing this, one of the men took out a machete and cut off my father’s head, right in front of us. The pain that I felt at that moment was unbearable.”

“My father’s blood was splattered all over the ground. Could you imagine the torture, the pain that I was going through at that moment? I pleaded with God to take my life; I was already a living corpse, but He turned a deaf ear! I found extraordinary courage, rushed, and took my headband to tie the head of my father to stop the blood from gushing out,” Janada says.

The cruel killing of her father was not, however, the end of her tribulations. She would be captured by another set of militants and undergo untold torture in the bushes at the hands of the militants.

"On 9 November 2020, I was on the way to a government office when I was again surprised by militants." I suffered a lot of terrible and wicked experiences – beyond explanation – that made those six days seem like six years," she says.

"On 15 November 2020, I was released. I came back and spent a few days with my mother," Janada further says, adding that it was her mother who enrolled her at the Trauma Center, a Catholic facility of the Diocese of Maiduguri where she embarked on a healing journey.

After spending six months at the center, Janada says she was able to let go of her past and is back on her feet. She's now enrolled in college and wants to "give it my all" to finish her degree.

Highlighting ways in which she has benefited at the Catholic trauma healing facility, Janada says, "I acquired new skills that have made me so proud of myself. Catholic trauma healing centre. Janada has learned "the art of healing by letting go of my pain".

At one point, Janada felt like giving up being a Christian was a total waste of time. But after healing, I decided that "I will serve Him for the rest of my life," Janada says in an interview with ACN on November 15. I have learned that God is still God. " Janada says and poses. She adds in the ACNNovember 15 report, "After my healing process, I got answers to all my questions.