Nigeria, Feb. 26 -- Sadiya Lawal lifted her one-year-old son, his small body squirming as he cried. She gently ignored his protests and placed him in her sister's arms, offering a brief, apologetic glance before turning away. She moved with deliberate steps, her pace slow and steady, as if every movement carried the weight of the past. Settling on a mat on the floor, she flipped the niqab over her head as she prepared to share her story - one that had altered the course of her life.

"It was a few days after we resumed school," she began, her gaze shifting away as memories of that night resurfaced - the night her life flashed before her.

It was Thursday, 25 February 2021, and the lives of Mrs Lawal, now 21, and about 300 girls were about...