Refugees of insurgency in the North East say Boko Haram has a network of informants in families in areas under their control. Most casualties are not felled by bullets during combat with Nigerian forces, but mainly through reprisals after expeditions when the insurgents are subdued or pushed back.
These and more are disclosed in this close encounter with Abdul (not his real name), an escapee from Bagga, Borno State who left his wife and family in the bush and ran down to Lagos for safety when Boko Haram members let loose on him after they got wind that he had formed a vigilante in his village.
Abdul, who arrived Lagos in December 2014 empty handed, has since converted from Islam to Christianity. He spoke with Correspondent Sam Nwokoro.
Blood spill and the tears caused by Boko Haram in the North Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe will likely go down as one of the greatest human tragedies in Africa in peace time.
What Abuja dubs insurgency ought to be described as war by one section of the country against the rest.
In conventional war, there is a rule of engagement which says the harmless and the defenceless, and women, children, and the elderly should not be attacked. But if the narratives of Abdul (not his real name) who escaped Boko Haram slaughter by the whiskers is anything to go by, Nigeria is contending with one of the world’s most crippling refugee crises in peace time.
“Abdul” said his real name should not be disclosed because “they [Boko Haram members] can track down anyone they want and kill the person.”
The horrors of the murderers transcend the boundaries of their strongholds. Those who escape are tracked and, where found, killed. Their family members are traced, and if found, wiped out.
It is pretty difficult describing an experience to someone who was not a participant. Unless you are a master of narratives imbued with sharp memory, you may not even be able to paint a graphic picture of your own encounter.
Unanticipated hell let loose
Whenever the wrath of Boko Haram is reported in the media, the magnitude is hardly appreciated because of a lack of real-time technology in Nigeria.
What the country is contending with in the North East is more than a sectarian skirmish. Displacement of persons takes place daily.
An encounter with Abdul tells a sordid story of war-like genocide and unthinkable displacement of families in their thousands. If indeed the federal government has any plan for the displaced, it had better start implementing it now before things get worse.
Beginning of problems
Abdul said he has not been able to communicate with his family since December 12, 2014 when Hawul Council in Borno State fell into the hands of Boko Haram.
He disclosed that some Northern governors, emirs, and council chairmen tacitly support Boko Haram because they are reluctant to call for military assistance when citizens are besieged.
“Junior officers were giving orders to their superiors, and as such there was no coordination among the military men conducting anti-terror operations,” he told TheNiche.
Part of the interview ran thus
Tell us your name, where you come from, and the situation there
My name used to be “Abdul”. That was my Islamic name before my conversion to Christianity. Now I am a Christian, and my name is John. I am from Hawul Local Government in Borno State.
Are you residing in Lagos?
No, it is because of Boko Haram I ran from Hawul to Lagos.
You knew somebody here before or you just took a chance
Yes, I know somebody. My sister is married here and she lives here.
What about your wife and children
They are still at home in our village.
Where?
In Hawul
Is that where Bagga is located?
Bagga in is the northern part of Borno State while Hawul is in the southern part. Baga is a local government and Hawul is also a local government.
Your experience, and how did it start?
When this thing started in the North, they were killing both Christians and Muslims. We thought it was a minor thing, but they started killing people in Maiduguri and up to Bama, Gworza, and Damboa.
When they started killing people along the road by asking “are you a Christian or a Muslim?”, we knew it is not a child’s play. If you are travelling on a bus, they will stop you, interview you; and if you tell them that you are a Muslim, they will leave you; but if you say you are a Christian, they will kill you.
December escape
My luckiest day in life was December 12, 2014 when I escaped. They got wind that I was among those organising a vigilante in our village, so they started tracking me.
We resorted to vigilante because the Army was not helping us. Each time we went to the emir or the local government chairman, they told us that the people said they did not want the military to come. That gave the Boko Haram people the courage to advance to Damboa, going from village to village.
Around December 12, they went to one town and killed eight people in a wedding ceremony. Then they went mad, killing anyhow. That was when most people fled the area, including me. We hid in the bush for months.
Far more killings go on secretly. Most of the figures both government and the newspapers report are far from what is happening. Most killings go on secretly and no one knows about them.
If they detect that you are a member of the vigilante or that you give information about them, you are a dead person unless you confess that you are a Muslim.
So we started informing the federal government, the SSS (State Security Service), and other security agencies, but no action was taken. We started demanding for the military to come and mount road blocks or something like that. I was surprised when we started receiving information that Hawul Local Government does not want soldiers.
They told us that the people said they don’t want soldiers to come. And we said, how can this be when the Boko Haram people are killing soldiers and you are saying the people said they don’t want the military to come? We don’t think this is a genuine reason.
Which council officials did Hawul people meet?
We spoke to the local government chairman and he replied that that is what the people were saying. I think I can remember his name, one Mr. Daniel, the Chairman of Hawul Local Government Area.
So since that April when they killed the emir of Gworza, that was the third major attack. When they killed the emir of Gworza, the military was informed. We told them that this is where these people (Boko Haram) are settled.
But instead of the military to go and fight them on that day, they just went to where the emir was killed and left. All other efforts made to bring the military there did not succeed, because it is the only place linking the two local governments.
Role played by council chairmen and traditional rulers
The governors and their cabinet members and the emirs are not free of blame. They are lukewarm in the fight against Boko Haram. It is as if they don’t care. Nobody there talks about the welfare of displaced persons.
Adamawa would only join the fight against Boko Haram with machetes, is that what it takes to fight Boko Haram to regain a local government? But they have more than a thousand staff in each local government, all of them ghost workers who are not doing anything.
I suspect [former Borno State Governor] Bunu Sheriff, and no person in the area is pleading innocence for him. Yes I suspect him. Most of these Boko Haram boys are from his local government.
How does military handle Boko Haram?
Most times senior military officers do not come in time, especially when we need them most. Only junior officers come around, but most times with only small guns. Boko Haram members are many and the Army cannot match them. Most times, the insurgents take the Army unawares and outgun them. We are helpless over it.
Boko Haram people go from house to house killing anyone that confesses he is a Christian. If you say you are a Muslim, they ask you to join them. If you refuse, they kill you. If you escape or they know you are working with the vigilante, you are also in trouble.
Before I ran down here, we had stayed in the bush for weeks.
How do you communicate with your wife and children?
I tell you frankly, I have not been talking to them since I came here. I am putting up with my sister who is married in the South. The family lives here in Lagos.
Appeal about condemned soldiers
It is no use killing the court-martialled soldiers who were condemned to death. A situation where you have a junior officer giving orders to a senior officer, and the officer doesn’t know how the men in the field are faring shows that something is wrong with the manner the war against Boko Haram is being carried out.
One of the gallant officers who waged the war in Gworza, one Nnamdi, showed strength and fought the Boko Haram people very well in my community before they retreated due to a lack of arms.
Only he would pursue the invaders far. I will be glad if Nnamdi is pardoned.
I also appeal to the federal government to do something about the teeming number of displaced persons from those states under insurgency.
