Joy, a 26-year-old survivor of the brutal Boko Haram school abduction in Chibok, Borno State, has emerged as a beacon of hope and resilience, now thriving in the United States and married to her longtime American partner. Her incredible journey from terror to triumph has captured global attention and sparked renewed calls for the release of the remaining abducted Chibok girls.
Joy was just a teenager when Boko Haram terrorists stormed her school in Chibok, Maiduguri, abducting her along with over 200 other girls in a 2014 incident that shocked the world. In a daring escape during transport to Sambisa Forest, Joy leapt from a moving truck and ran through the wilderness for hours. She says she was guided by a divine voice telling her, “Jump down, you will be fine.” She credits God for her survival.
Shortly after her escape, she was relocated to the United States in August 2014 through the support of the Jubilee Campaign, a U.S.-based human rights organization. In America, Joy resumed her education, completing high school and later gaining admission into Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, where she is currently studying.
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Her story took a romantic turn when she found love in the U.S. and eventually tied the knot with her longtime partner, James, a white American man with whom she had been in a relationship for over three years. The wedding marks a new beginning for Joy, one that starkly contrasts the trauma she once endured.
On July 30, 2025, Joy posted a deeply emotional video recounting the horrifying night of her abduction, a video that quickly went viral across social media platforms. In tears, she called on the Nigerian government to intensify efforts to rescue her classmates who are still in captivity, urging global attention on their plight.
Her journey from fear and captivity to freedom, love, and education in the U.S. is being hailed as a powerful story of courage, divine intervention, and the triumph of the human spirit. As Joy begins this new chapter, her message remains clear: the world must not forget the Chibok girls still missing, and every effort must be made to bring them home.
