Atilingo Speaks with a Native Kibaku Speaker on Language, Survival, and Hope.
The Kibaku language, also known as Cibak or Chibok, is an Indigenous Chadic language spoken primarily by the Kibaku people in Chibok, Askira/Uba, and parts of Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria. Greenberg (1963) classified Kibaku (Chibok) within the Chadic group of languages, a branch of the Afro-Asiatic family, and placed it in the Bata–Marghi group. The Kibaku society emerged over centuries as diverse communities sought refuge in the rocky Chibok hills during periods of conflict and slave raids. These communities gradually developed a shared identity, with Kibaku becoming the central language through which they preserved their history, customs, and cultural values.