Bama recapture: Survivors’ shocking stories

With the recapture of Bama town in Borno State by Nigerian forces, the view is that Boko Haram has lost a prized area, leaving their last resort to be Gwoza, another important town in the southern part of the state. The recovery of Bama is in addition to many towns and villages reclaimed by the […]

With the recapture of Bama town in Borno State by Nigerian forces, the view is that Boko Haram has lost a prized area, leaving their last resort to be Gwoza, another important town in the southern part of the state. The recovery of Bama is in addition to many towns and villages reclaimed by the Nigerian military forces and regional allies from Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Sources, including survivors and youth vigilantes say the insurgents were furious that Bama was taken away from them, triggering large-scale violence before they were finally subdued on the 16th of March.
Prior to being taken over by Boko Haram in September, 2014, several attacks including two major ones earlier in the year, were carried out in Bama, then the second-largest business hub in Borno State. The attack left scores dead, with markets, parks and other businesses worth millions of naira in ruins.
“When the terrorists realized that Nigerian troops had perfected plans to route them in Bama, they went haywire, in an incomprehensible way,” said truck driver Bishara Amadu, 62, who was held hostage for nearly six months. “Bama is gone, all the beautiful structures in town are gone, markets and stalls burnt, filling stations vandalized and bridges destroyed,” he said.
According to Amadu, Boko Haram fighters were not ready to leave Bama because of its strategic importance for food and arms supplies from as far as Libya through Chad and Cameroon. Situated in the central part of Borno State and 60 kilometers away from Maiduguri, Bama has an area of 4,997 km2 and a population of 269,986, according to the 2006 census. Experts believe that the population of the town had increased significantly in the last ten years because of numerous advantages, including fertile land for agriculture and its closeness to Cameroon Republic through the Banki, a border town between the two countries.
However, between September and now, the population of the town declined significantly following the onslaught by Boko Haram. Within the period under review, residents who could not flee were held hostage, with young men killed, middle-aged women deployed for domestic work and young women forcefully taken as ‘brides’, survivors that fled the town within the week revealed.
Weekly Trust gathered that a few days before the recapture of Bama, the terrorists had shown some resistance and engaged Nigerian troops in a fierce battle at Boboshe  village in nearby Dikwa Local Government Area and Yale village in Konduga Local Government area.
“[Boko Haram] was roundly defeated at both fronts and out of anger and frustration, survivors among them went back to Bama and commenced mass-killings and destruction,” said Abu Jalo, another survivor. He said the insurgents destroyed sources of water such as boreholes and wells. “It was a complete clampdown, as the insurgents said everybody must lose,” he said.
Security sources revealed to Weekly Trust that it was an uphill task to recover Bama, as it was laced by mines and other explosive ordinances and booby traps. “If not for the latest equipment procured, Bama will never have been recovered because no-one would dare enter the area,” a source familiar with the operation said. Most fleeing residents said they were kept in make-shift cells, the emir’s palace and other locations, but they are now in ruins. Former captives disclosed that while hundreds of the insurgents have been killed in Bama, those who survived have moved to Gwoza, the now-infamous headquarters of sect leader Shekau’s ‘caliphate’ in preparation for what they called a “final showdown.”
Weeks before the recent happenings in Bama, an undated video clip, circulated by youths in Maiduguri also showed how the insurgents forced over 100 of their captives, who are mostly young men to lie head-down in a school dormitory, thereafter executing them. The commander who led the execution faced a camera and justified the act, stressing that during ‘religious crusades’ warriors have the option of keeping or killing their hostages.
“This is Bama,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of keeping our captives for now because we are still embarking on territorial conquest. Our religion permits us to kill whoever we caught or to keep him if we feel like…We would remain subservient to our leader (Abubakar Shekau) and will keep on accomplishing his commands,” he said.
While many “captives” were reportedly slaughtered at one of the abattoirs in Bama and left there to rot, recent events indicate several were chucked into wells. It was also gathered that when it was evident that they would lose Bama, dozens of insurgents slaughtered their own wives, claiming they would “meet again in heaven”.
Jamta Bukar, 60, said she lived all her life in Bama and when the insurgents took over the town in September, 2014, she did not leave. As a result, she witnessed many an atrocity. “But I don’t think they ever believed their empire could be crushed. They had everything, a chain of command, including judges, imams and administrators,” she said.
Alhaji Awacha Damga, 64, also arrived Maiduguri a few days ago from Bama, where he stayed for seven months under Boko Haram control. He initially left Maiduguri for Bama on 29th August, 2014, with the intention to spend two days there and come back but was trapped and captured. “Life with Boko Haram was chaotic, no law, just complete anarchy,” he said, adding: “It was all like a bad dream, thinking we would be freed but never being lucky. When they invaded the town they were a little bit friendly to the trapped ones, saying all will enjoy everything, and we should not panic because we would be under Sharia system. They, however, threatened that if we ever attempt to escape, life would be worse there because they would definitely take over the city. We gave up, tired, hungry and sometimes sick.”
Damga told Weekly Trust that Boko Haram members killed on a daily basis and at the slightest provocation. “They beheaded more than thirty men within the area where I lived, because initially, residents thought it was a thing of one or two days, so they hid in their homes, but they were later discovered and beheaded in a most gruesome manner. Since I was born, I’d never witnessed humans being slaughtered. And if a victim attempts to run, there was nowhere to go, as the terrorists were many. Apart from the elderly, no-one was allowed to go home. They force women to marry them and the teenagers to join their crusade of violence.”
Hussaina Bakura, a mother of two who escaped from Bama within the week, told Weekly Trust that the terrorists fed them with stolen foodstuff. But medicines were unavailable, so “One of children died of malaria,” she said. “They actually controlled Bama for several months but it was clearly not easy for them managing captives, as they encountered many challenges in getting food, drugs and even fuel for their vehicles,” the woman, who is in her early 20s, said. “Many people died from minor ailments because there were few health personnel, who were also kept in Bama under duress,” she said.
Lantana Mansur, 27, said she knew the occupation of Bama will not last long. “I knew the insurgents could not hold on to the town for too long because supply was cut off and even some people from among their ranks had given up, conceding that there was no way they could survive the resultant isolation,” she said. While Lantana’s intuition has paid off positively and her prediction has come to pass, it will take a while for the hitherto thriving town to be habitable once again.