Chapter 5

Bret Foley, the field investigator with the American Embassy arrived at Bor around 11:30am. He first spoke to everyone generally and then began to take statements starting with Paul. He had a stenographer with him who swore each person in and typed what was said along with the deposition being recorded, after which, they signed an affidavit swearing to the truth of their testimony.

Foley started by asking Paul to begin at the beginning: when did he meet Nadia Juba. Paul began with the day she first walked into the unit and asked Celeste about volunteering to help deliver babies. He went on to explain how from there, Paul trained her to help deliver babies in the field and in the unit, eventually training her to assist with C-section surgical deliveries. He explained how Nadia was so intelligent, she rapidly learned and became a certified midwife and began delivering babies on her own with supervision. He went on to tell Foley about how news of her delivering babies spread and she quickly became known as the Black Angel of Life., and that she became a symbol of hope throughout the Upper Nile region of South Sudan for dark-skinned and black Africans. Officials in Juba had heard of her fame. Paul told about the Sudanese freedom fighters who drove through the night after a raid on the MSF PoC site at Bentiu and told them that the rebels were killing dark-skinned and black Africans and were looking specifically for the Black Angel of Life. They intended to torture and murder her. It was then, Dr. Abdallah and he knew that if he and Nadia married, her life and the life of her mother would most likely be saved based ion the events that happened in Ethiopia and the killing of a dozen MSF workers. He and Nadia were already in love with each other, and they decided to get married. He spoke of how MSF helped expedite the marriage. When Vladimir Sikovsky and Judge Kedar Ochola’s names were mentioned, Foley eyes widened.

Paul then related the attack that resulted in four deaths before the terrorists entered the unit, and the confrontation with everyone present with Chuma Ekwensi, the Butcher and his threat to butcher Nadia and her mother and make him eat their body parts before killing him. Ekwensi warned him that he would be at the Juba airport to make sure they got on the plane to the U. S., or they all would be killed.

Next, he deposed Abdul Abdallah. Abdul basically explained how Nadia was trained and certified according to MSF’s high standards of medical care. That MSF was in the habit of training indigenous people to help with care to reassure refugees and allay their fears of being treated by foreigners. He also testified that he and Paul did speak about how the government was withdrawing support for the rebels because of the Ethiopia murders and that Nadia and her mom wouldn’t be killed if she were his wife. The two were in love anyway, so they had an expeditated wedding with MSF’s help.

Next. Foley deposed Nadia. The night before, Paul gave his wives detailed instructions on what not to say. They were, under no circumstances, not to reveal that Abibi was his wife. She was Nadia’s mother and that was all. Nadia basically told Foley that all she ever wanted to do was to deliver babies. That’s how she came to know Paul and the rest of the MSF team. She related how Paul tested her that first day and said she was very smart and learned quickly. Their midwife had been murdered a week or so before she arrived, and they needed one. She said that she studied hard and learned quickly and realized her dream of delivering babies and caring for her people. She never wanted to be a hero or any kind of symbol, but that just something that happened. She also said that she fell in love with Paul the very first day, and when he asked her to marry him, she excitedly said yes. Her mother was happy and agreed to the marriage wholeheartedly. She also basically repeated what Paul had said about the confrontation with the terrorist. She did not remember his name, only that he called himself the Butcher.

Next, he deposed Abibi Juma. She told of their harrowing journey moving four times in the past year from camp to camp to avoid the rebels. As they left the last camp, they stayed for a while in a village that was attacked and Abibi was viciously raped and injured, and how she had hid Nadia in a privy pit up to her neck of feces. When she had recovered enough to travel, they came to Bor.

He then deposed Celeste DuBois and Dashiki Dimka, who corroborated the confrontation in the unit.

Bret Foley then met with Paul and Dr. Abdallah in Abdul’s office and collected all the documents concerning the case. He said they would be verified and returned. He took all Abibi’s documents for her and Nadia, Paul and Nadia’s marriage license, Paul’s passport and MSF contract, the rape report and Nadia’s MSF midwife field certification.

He said that from what he has heard and the circumstances of everything, this was going to snowball into an international incident involving Médecins Sans Frontières, the United States, and the South Sudanese government. The press was already sniffing around, and it wouldn’t be long before the story broke. The whole thing would center around discrimination killings based on color and a little black girl named Nadia, the Black Angel of Life. The press always loved a story about hero or heroine. He told Paul and Abdul, “We are very aware of this guy, Chuma Ekwensi, and his brutality. Expect the American consul, Patrick Sweeney, to get in touch with you. I am not making a determination, but I can tell you that you folks have too much documentation to validate your testimony to refute. I think that an Undersecretary of State will get involved and expedite Abibi and Nadia’s appeal to immigrate as persecuted refugees.”