Boko Haram violence deprives many voters in Nigeria, killed over 27,000, millions displaced

Over 84 million Nigerians are registered voters in this West African country of more than 190 million. But in some parts of the north, where an insurgency by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has killed more than 27,000 people and displaced millions, thousands likely won't be able to participate in the election. There are concerns about whether voting can take place at all in some areas facing arson attacks by alleged militants.

The northern extremist insurgency is one issue voters will consider as they choose between President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected in 2015 on a promise to tackle insecurity, and Atiku Abubakar, a fellow northern Muslim and former vice president who similarly vows to restore security. For northerners displaced by Boko Haram violence, there is little enthusiasm for the polls even as they hope the outcome will somehow lead to peace in areas plagued by armed violence.

At Malkohi camp in Yola, hometown of opposition candidate Abubakar, some 111 of them are widows whose husbands were killed in the violence. Four who spoke to AP ahead of the election said they won't be able to vote. They are still terrified of going back home amid radio reports of continued Boko Haram attacks. Their stories are often horrific.

Musa, whose husband bled to death after his hands were amputated by Boko Haram in 2014, pointed to the back of her foot where she was shot trying to retrieve her husband's body from the custody of Boko Haram fighters in the town of Gwoza, in the restive state of Borno. Fati Umar, of Gwoza, said she was unable to bury her husband after fleeing a 2014 Boko Haram attack that came while she was cultivating her garden. For days she hid in the bush with her children. Fafa Malam, also of Gwoza, fled her home with her children in 2014 after her husband was killed by gunmen.

A third woman, from the town of Madagali in Adamawa, has a child by a Boko Haram fighter who assaulted and then enslaved her for months following a 2014 attack that killed her husband. Two of her children were taken by the militants. Boko Haram, which opposes a secular Nigeria, gained international notoriety in April 2014 when it kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in the northern town of Chibok.

With inputs from agencies.