14th August, 2013
JTF’s onslaught on Boko Haram hide-outs yields grisly video recordings of the sect’s bestial activities
Operation Boyona, the code name for the present anti-terror military campaign in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, north-eastern Nigeria, has produced gut-wrenching revelations on the atrocities of the Jama’a Ahl al-sunnah li-da’wa wa al-jihad sect, otherwise known as Boko Haram. Since the declaration of emergency rule in the three states by President Goodluck Jonathan on 15 May 2013, raids by the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the sect’s enclaves, particularly Sanbisa forest in the south of Borno, where its leader, Abubakar Shekau, hid, have yielded a tome of information on their inner workings.
One of the videos contains how 10 traders from Ibadan, Oyo State, were callously slain. A survivor of the attack, Taoheed Adewuyi, 32, had recounted that his colleagues were either shot or slaughtered by members of the deadly sect.
“I was shot but the bullet did not hit me very well. But when they discovered that one of the victims was still breathing, one of the attackers went into their car and pulled a knife with which he slaughtered him,” Adewuyi said. Those killed were Seye Adegboyega, Jelili Popoola, Ojo Mosobalaje, Fatai Kareem and Femi Oyetunde. Other were Ninalowo Saheed, Saburu Lanlehin, Lekan Oladokun, Sola Adeoye and Nurudeen Lawal.
While Adewuyi might have said all he saw in what he considers the longest time of his life, TheNEWS investigation has revealed a scarier account of how they were killed.
The videos were shown to a group of senators during a security briefing by the JTF in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. In the video where the traders were captured, they were pinned to the ground, with their hands tied behind their back, while a sect member bent over to run a sharp knife through one of their prey’s neck. What followed was a stream of blood and shouts of Allahu Akbar (God is Great) by the slaughterers! Some of the traders, who were forced to watch the gruesome slaughter of their colleague, simply dug their faces into the ground in submission to a will not chosen by them. One after the other, the same hideous fate befell each. Not done, the sect members hung each of the severed heads on its torso to stare lifelessly into space.
Also, the senators saw the killing of three uniformed policemen, with their green berets intact. Before the cops were slaughtered, they were made to stand in front of a banner with Arabic inscriptions, while a hooded terrorist, with an AK-47 rifle, read portions of a Quran before pronouncing death sentences on them. Before their execution, two of the policemen slumped out of fear of the impending death.
Although the delegation was forewarned by Borno State Deputy Governor, Zannah Umar Mustapha, who attended the briefing, about the unimaginable savagery they were about to see, some of the senators reportedly could not muster the guts to watch the full length of the video. So gripping was the horror that they buried their faces in their palms, while others asked the intelligence officer to fast-forward the videos. A retired general, who fought in the Nigerian Civil War, and a member of the delegation, was said to have confessed to his colleagues that not even in the war did he witness such cruelty.
In another video, the leader of the insurgents, Abubakar Shekau, dressed in Army camouflage and in a celebratory mood inside the Sanbisa forest, embraced a grey-bearded man in his 60s. The duo was excited over the success of their bombing of the Kano Motor Park on 18 March 2013, which claimed over 60 lives. Several shots were fired into the air in a scene which mimicked Osama bin-Laden’s jubilant hysteria, as shown on some western channels. Like a lord in the jungle, tall and bearded Shekau, who walks with a limp and commands a force of about 5,000 men, recently sent two of his commanders to Niger to carry out more recruitments.
He is married to four wives – one of who was released recently from prison by the Federal Government – and is believed to have fathered 16 children. No one can say precisely how old he is, as intelligence officers parade three possible years of birth, putting his age to be between 38 and 48. Trained abroad, Shekau, successor to the sect’s slain former leader, Mohammed Yussuf, is described as a psychiatric patient who, before taking up arms, was in and out of psychiatric homes.
The videos which were found in the thick forest showed the burning of churches, mosques, police stations and killing of school pupils. A viedo clip revealed a set of three white families, who were identified as French tourists kidnapped by the insurgents in Cameroon, being herded under a tree. The men, women and children were separated from one another and driven away in two different pick-up vans, which the military authorities said were camouflaged in paints made of mixed mud and sugar. The gaunt and dishevelled appearances of the white tourists, who were kidnapped on 19 February, showed they had been held for some time. According to Reuters, N500 million ($3.15 million) was paid as ransom before their release two months after. Although the report did not state who paid the ransom, it claimed Shekau had demanded for N1billion, but later agreed to take half of the sum in a deal that would ensure the release of his members in Cameroonian jails.
In yet another video, a young man in his late 20s, his eyes dilated from drugs he had injected and holding an AK-47 rifle, was being prepared for a suicide mission. Dressed in an orange caftan of guinea brocade, the terrorist muttered a few words in Hausa, which was interpreted to be his last word and will to his family. Following that, powdery substances, stuffed into two drums, were hurled on a Toyota Prado Sport Utility Vehicle, SUV, which was reportedly stolen from a local government chief, a few days earlier. As the drums were braced with two gas cylinders, other incendiary substances were added for effect. Detonators were wired to the jeep, while the supposed agent of death emerged, now wearing dark glasses. He embraced his handler in an emotional goodbye, hopped into the vehicle, rolled up the glass window and drove away, waving with one hand. His destination was the headquarters of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in Maiduguri.
As he drove toward his target, an accomplice trailed behind, filming him to ascertain that he actually got there and did not abandon the task. Having gotten to the makeshift barrack, suspicious guards stopped him for a search, but the bomber hurriedly set off the explosives, which impacted nearby vehicles and houses.
There were also videos of urchins and boys as young as seven years old, being trained on how to handle guns, as well as summary execution of other young men accused of betrayal and disloyalty.
The beastly gusto of the sect members to launch fatal attacks is said to be induced by the drugs they inject. JTF Commandant in Yobe State, Colonel I.S. Alli, identified Trammol as the popular drug members of the sect take. The insurgents are said to be unconscious of their actions anytime they take the drugs and become courageous even in face of battle. According to military sources, the drugs are still active in them even when arrested, and they are usually defiant. But as the drug wears off, they become aware of their actions and express surprise at the scale of damage they wreak.
Based on the reign of terror by the sect, towns and villages lining the highway between Maiduguri and Damaturu in Yobe State have become desolate. Mainok village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State and 50 kilometres from Maiduguri, was said to be one of the fortresses of the Boko Haram sect until a collaborative effort by the JTF and its civilian associates, known as Civilian JTF, stormed the place last month. The raid was precipitated by the killing of 25 civilians, including five vigilante youths, who were ambushed by the insurgents.
The Civilian JTF, popularly called Yan Gora in Maiduguri, was said to have visited local chiefs and elders in the village, seeking their cooperation, in the form of providing information that would enable the security agencies stamp out the insurgents – to which the elders agreed. Before their return, however, the sect members who got wind of their mission and overran the village, destroying it completely. Schools, police stations, houses and telecommunication base stations were destroyed. The military authorities stated that several school pupils in Mainok town were slaughtered before their school was set on fire.
Similar assaults were launched on Binisheik, which is reputed to the biggest market for water melon in the North-East, as well as Baga and Bama villages in Borno State. The deadly encounter between men of the Multinational Joint Task Force, MJTF, and the insurgents in Baga town, in April, was said to have cost 185 lives and destruction of over 2,000 houses, although the casualty figure is believed to be higher. This belief is reinforced by the assertion of Senator Maina M’a’aji Lawan, representing Borno North, that he saw 228 fresh graves and 4,000 torched houses during his two-day assessment tour of the troubled town.
Presently, only members of the Civilian JTF, bearing sticks and matchetes, can be seen wandering the streets of the town. The villagers have fled. The situation was the same in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, where only a few government officials inhabited before the emergency declaration. However, life seems to be creeping back into the town. Although the Boko Haram sect, obviously decimated, is still putting up defiance, the military authorities in both Borno and Yobe claim they are winning the war, and that about 75 per cent of territory seized by the insurgents has been recovered.
Last month, JTF spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, told journalists that the fight against insurgency in Borno was 80 to 85 per cent completed. He claimed the insurgents were in disarray, with no central authority, coordination or administration.
“Most of the terrorists’ commanders and foot soldiers have either been arrested or killed in their daily encounters with the JTF. We have been able to destroy all identified Boko Haram camps and have recovered many arms, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Device, IED, materials,” he said. But the military will still not risk the visit of high-profile individuals to places like Baga and Bama, to avoid ambush by the sect.
This was the case when some senators, in June, visited Baga, a fishing community that borders Chad, where clashes between the insurgents and the JTF caused resulted in a carnage. There were scores of heavily armed soldiers and armoured personnel carriers. Unlike few months ago when the sect held sway in towns and villages in Borno, 24 of the 27 local governments in the state are now under the firm control of the legitimate authorities. Martey, where the insurgents had hoisted their flag, is under the JTF control. In those harrowing months, 10 of those local governments were already in the grip of the insurgents, while police stations and local government offices were set ablaze. Privileged information has shown that the emergency intervention was the timely stitch that saved nine. The magazine learnt that, had the declaration been delayed for another 10 days, the whole state of Borno would have been taken over by the insurgents. There was no misgiving about the capability of the sect to overrun the state at the time, as sources claimed that they had established arms depots in many homes, as well as a number of makeshift bomb factories. The large cache of arms, including locally manufactured rocket launchers, the JTF seized during its Operation Boyona, confirmed the theory.
While the JTF continues to comb Borno and Yobe states, some escaping insurgents have fled down south to Lagos, Ogun and Rivers states. Recent arrests of some alleged Boko Haram members have been made in Lagos and Ogere, Ogun State, western Nigeria, while the help of the Civilian JTF, who know the terrorists, is being sought by the military intelligence to track them down. Presently, the military authorities are on the trail of an unnamed young member of Boko Haram, who killed an entire family and set a whole village on fire because the elder brother of a girl he proposed to opposed him. The girl’s brother had identified the suitor as a member of the deadly sect, a situation that angered the latter, hence the mayhem. The fleeing insurgent is believed to be hiding somewhere in Lagos. Again, members of the Civilian JTF who know him have been recruited by the JTF to help in the search.
“These boys know them because they lived together and have, in the past, been targets of their recruitment efforts,” said one of the JTF officers.
Civilian JTF
The vigilance group, composed largely of the non-literate and unemployed, who carry sticks, machetes, cudgels, bows and arrows, provide information to the JTF and have helped in making some arrests. The emergence of the Civilian JTF was occasioned by the attack on 11 June by members of Boko Haram on Hausari, Maiduguri.
According to AFP, the sect members had disguised as a funeral procession before stopping to open their coffin. Rather than a corpse, they brought out AK-47 rifles and fired indiscriminately at civilians, killing 15.
The government and traditional institution, as well as the JTF, have showered plaudits on the civilian volunteers, claiming that their involvement has bolstered the people’s confidence. “In the past,” said Borno State Deputy Governor, Umar Mustapha, “the people fled when they heard the Boko Haram gun shots. [But] since the emergence of these boys, when a gunshot is heard, people rush to confront the terrorists.”
The Shehu of Borno and Chairman, Borno Council of Traditional Rulers, Alhaji Abubakar El-Kanemi, who survived an attack on his life and the foiled arson on his historic palace, had the Civilian JTF members to thank. He said: “They have been marvellous.” The Shehu might not have used a better word, given that this increasing vigilante volunteers are confronting a well-funded and coordinated terrorist organisation with loads of AK-47, RPGs, and IEDs.
Though presently a positive force, there is however, a nagging fear that the boys may become a band of terrorists if there are no proper plans to reorient and engage them in future. This fear is not unfounded, and is shared by the three authorities – government, traditional and the military institutions – managing Borno presently.
While the synergy between the Civilian JTF and the military may have helped considerably in tackling the terror scourge, many believe the government will have a huge price to pay in the aftermath of the insurgency.
As it is already the case, excesses and human rights violations have tainted the activities of the young boys and girls involved in the vigilance group. Besides, the Civilian JTF may have postured its members to be overbearing and overzealous, which recently led to a fatal supremacist battle among them. The clash, between the vigilante group from Maiduguri and those in Biu, a town about 190 kilometres from Maiduguri, Borno State, over who controlled Biu, left five people dead.
A member of the Civilian JTF, Abdullahi Mohammed, said the deaths occurred when the Biu vigilante attempted to eject their rivals from Maiduguri. “The Civilian JTF in Biu had asked those that came from Maiduguri to leave the town because their presence was likely to cause more harm than good to residents of Biu town. I saw five dead bodies before I was rushed to hospital. It is possible the casualty figure may be more than five because only two of us survived the shooting. I can’t tell where other dead bodies were deposited,” he claimed. “The shooting,” as Mohammed mentioned, gives a possibility that some of the Civilian JTF members own guns.
JTF spokesman, Sagir, provided a soother to the worries over the tendency of the vigilance groups to become a menace to the same society they are protecting at the moment. “We are monitoring, guiding and regulating the attitudinal disposition of the group in terms of the way they display their weapons and approach members of the public,” he said. Aside this, a consensus among the controlling authorities is that efforts be made to train and absorb them into the regular forces, such as the Police and the Civil Defence Corps.
Amnesty and Boko Haram
Although the Federal Government proposed amnesty for the insurgents to entice them into foreswearing violence, the sect vehemently rejected it. Rather, it claimed it should be the one to grant amnesty to the government. In a 30-minute video he released on 11 April, Shekau, who spoke Hausa, Arabic and English, said: “We are surprised that today it is the Federal Government saying it will grant us amnesty. Oh God, is it we who will grant amnesty or you are the one to grant us amnesty?” When government released from detention facilities women and children, who once served as informants to the sect, the leaders remained adamant.
Umar Mustapha, Borno deputy governor, believed that rather than declare a blanket amnesty, government should only pardon repentant members of the sect, after they must have been reoriented. Mustapha said the dyed-in-the-wool terrorists among them would rather die than give up their jaundiced cause. He gave an example of a detained member of the group who has lost both legs and an arm but keeps saying that whenever, if ever, he is freed he will still go out and kill in propagation of Boko Haram’s cause.
“Why will you free such a person and grant him amnesty?” asked Mustapha.
For the Shehu of Borno and Mustapha, poverty, neglect and corruption are responsible for the easy recruitment of foot soldiers by terrorists. “People steal from the government and nothing is done about it. Resources meant for the people are taken away and the majority of the people become hopeless. It is from their ranks that the BH soldiers are recruited,” Mustapha said. He added that members of the insurgency come back from their escapades to town with gifts of N10,000, N20,000 to lure young people to the group.
The Shehu corroborated this, stating that, “This uprising is more about hopelessness than religion.”
The porosity of the country’s borders has also made it possible for the smuggling of arms and ammunition, as well as infiltration by terrorists. In the wake of the military bombardment, many of the insurgents have fled to Chad, Niger and Cameroon, only to find their way back soon after. This necessitated the call by the Shehu on the federal government to provide more equipment and resources for border patrol and surveillance.
Yobe State Deputy Governor, Abubakar Aliyu, would rather the borders with the three countries were fenced. “If we can lay fibre optic cable from Lagos to Maiduguri, why can’t we fence our borders to keep these dangerous foreign elements out of our country,” he reasoned.
Despite the successes of the JTF in Maiduguri, the city remains a ghost of its old, bubbly self. Inhabitants of towns and villages in Yobe State drive for 90 minutes to Damaturu to make phone calls, because telephone network was cut off by the military. While Borno residents said they were satisfied without telecommunication as long as their security is guaranteed, it has been restored in Yobe. The military said lack of telephony hampered intelligence and information delivery by the people, which could have prevented the recent attacks on schools and the cow market.
The Position of The International Criminal Court
While the Federal Government dangles the amnesty offer at the sect, their activities have continued to attract interest outside the country’s shores, the latest being the International Criminal Court, ICC.
The ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, in a report issued last Monday, said: “Information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that since July 2009, Boko Haram has launched widespread and systematic attack that has resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 Christians and Muslims throughout Nigeria.” According to the statute, the court can automatically exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of any member state.
Despite the successes of the JTF, the battle rages on. It is indisputable that it will take years, if not decades, for the affected states to recover from the assault on it by its indigenes bearing arms and the Quran.
—Folarin Ademosu