How mother of seven fed her family with grains from Ant Hills

This is the story of Falmata Modu, a 36-year-old mother of seven who claimed that for the past three months, she and her entire family have been surviving with grains from ant hills.

A native of Mafa in Borno State, Falmata, her husband, Modu, and their children were among the thousands of families displaced by the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents. She is currently residing at the Muna Garage IDP (internally displaced persons) camp in Maiduguri.

Luckily, her plight was heard of through a viral video after a group of women learned of her source of living and visited her.

Recounting how she found herself stealing from ants, Falmata, who spoke in Kanuri, told our reporter that she was forced to seek other sources of food as the government was not bringing enough.
“My name is Falmata Modu; I am Kanuri by tribe, married, and blessed with seven children. About seven years ago, Boko Haram attacked our village, and I ran away with my husband and three children then. My parents and my parents’ in-law were not lucky, as they were all killed.

“My husband received a lot of cuts, and one of his hands was amputated. When we got to the camp, the food the government was giving us was enough to feed my family because we had three children. They normally give us soap, different types of grains, and oil every month.

“Allah decided to increase my family and gave me an extra four children. The government refused to increase the quantity of food, although we had informed them that we had extra mouths to feed. In the past, you would see little jobs to do to make money, but things are very hard these days. Our children had to drop out of school because there was no money to feed them.”

On why she opted to steal from ants, Faltama said she learned it from her parents, who did the same. “I am from a very poor family, and my father had plenty of wives and children. During farming season, the food in the store is not always enough to go around. To support the little that we have, my mother used to carry us along whenever she went to the bush to dig for food. This was how I knew that there were plenty of grains hidden under the ground by ants.

“Three months ago, things became very tough around here to the extent that those NGO people no longer came to share food stuff with us, unlike in the past. There are no jobs again in the camp or in the nearest communities. The food that they normally give does not exceed two weeks, even though we eat once a day.

“For the past three months, I have been going to the anthill to get grains, and I always get enough that will serve us for a day’s meal. I will pack the grains with sand and sieve them when I get home.”

His husband, Modu, who was also around during the conversation, said that the fact that his right hand was amputated made it impossible to work.

“During the attack, I received so many cuts on my hand, and before I could get to the hospital, it had decayed. The doctor amputated my right hand to save my life. Things were so difficult that my children dropped out of school. Luckily, after those women came and interviewed us, government officials from the local government came. They have enrolled four of my children back in school and promise that the governor will visit us soon. Those NGO women also gave us rice, maize, cloth, and oil.

“All I want the government to do is give me enough money to feed my family and send my children to school. Some small girls now sell their bodies to men to make money for their families. Life is very tough over here. May Allah protect my female children and keep them pure.”

On why he decided to have more children that he could not fend for, Modu said, “It is Allah that gives children, and he gave me seven. If he decides to give me more, I will accept. The only thing I promise is that I will never marry another wife.”