boko haram widows, orphans Abandoned in Pains

To Mrs Ankirwa Modu, a staff of the Agency for Mass Literacy in Maiduguri, whose husband was killed by members of the Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri, the pains remain fresh. She told Sunday Trust that no amount of counselling or financial assistance can compensate her for the loss of the head of her family. […]

To Mrs Ankirwa Modu, a staff of the Agency for Mass Literacy in Maiduguri, whose husband was killed by members of the Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri, the pains remain fresh. She told Sunday Trust that no amount of counselling or financial assistance can compensate her for the loss of the head of her family.

She recalled that her husband, Christopher Balami, a lecturer at Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, was killed along with five other people  while attending a mass at the Victory Baptist Church, Dala Alamdiri on the eve of last christmas by unknown gunmen.

She said the family never had prior knowledge of the tragedy that day and their dream of celebrating the christmas in happiness was cut short by the bullet fired by the gunmen which snipped life out of her husband.

The mother of four from Hawul local government area of Borno State was full with emotion and could not hold back her tears while narrating the incident which led to the death of her husband.

“My husband was about reaching home from the residence of a family friend who lost her daughter when the gunmen fired a shot and killed him. This was after they had attacked a church close to our area and killed the pastor and four other people,” she recalled.

I have handed over the killers of my husband to God because I’m not sure if he can get justice here. I am optimistic justice will be done in the hereafter,” she said in tears.

Asked how she is faring with her four children, Mrs Arkinwa said this is the most daunting challenge she is facing now. “It has not been easy since the time he was killed because I am left to cater for the children alone which is very difficult”, she added.

According to her, the family has been living through the spirited efforts of sympathizers who give them money for feeding and other needs.  “Governor Ali Modu Sheriff was here and he gave us money but we have exhausted it long ago because of competing demands,” she said.

Boko Haram is now the talk in town in Borno, the hitherto famous Home of Peace and centre of scholarship. The name Boko Haram is equally breeds fear in the neighbouring states of Yobe and Bauchi, all in the northeast part of Nigeria.

However, members of the sect have denounced the aphorism attached to the name Boko Haram (formal education is prohibited) stressing that the description is “wrong and derogatory” and called themselves Jamaatul Alsunnah Lida Awati Wal Jihad  meaning (a group out to propagate the teachings of the Holy Prophet Mohammed).

For now, the semantics attached to the sect seems irrelevant to many, especially the hundreds of bereaved families of soldiers, police, clerics, village and ward heads, including the surviving families of the Boko Haram adherents.

Beginning from July, 2009 when sporadic killings cropped up in Maiduguri, Bauchi and Yobe, series of uprisings for the purpose of containing the Boko Haram insurgency or in the name of vengeance, have continued unabated, especially in Maiduguri, which is the centre of the debacle.

Stories and theories have been told and postulated on how Boko Haram members were allegedly killed during encounters with the police when they (sect members) were on their way to a grave yard to bury one of their deceased members.

A comment was posted on the internet by one Bashir Mohammed who said: “Nigerian government must learn to respect its citizen. You can’t gun down people on the simple excuse of traffic law violation and at the same time refuse the wounded, treatment in the hospital and expect no protest.”

According to him, “this was the immediate cause of the whole problem that culminated into the genocide we are experiencing now,” he added.

Before the trouble was quashed in 2009, the leader of the sect, Muhammed Yusuf and over 800 members were killed in Maiduguri and an additional 33 and 50 others in Yobe and Bauchi respectively.

After the intervention of the military and the police, it was as if all was over for almost a year when suddenly, the surviving members of the sect allegedly resurfaced again. This time, not as a group that can be seen and identified in one place, but as a network, fully equipped with sophisticated weapons and guerrilla warfare techniques.

In their few utterances, the members said they are on a revenge mission to avenge the killing of their leader and members.

Abubakar Shekau, the most senior member of the group whom the police said was also killed, is now supposedly piloting the affairs of the sect which has so far claimed the lives of more than 150 people from July 2010 to date.

Observers say all stakeholders including the federal and state governments as well as clerics, human right activists among others, are now trading blames on the modus operandi, source of funding and the way out of the impasse.

This is more evident as the resurfaced members of the sect have defied all the war techniques, intelligence gathering and tactics employed by the joint forces of the state security service (SSS), the police and the army in quelling the carnage.

Stories are equally scanty on how some security personnel were killed, rather brutally while on duty.

Most disturbing is the lamentations of the families of ward heads and clerics who lost their lives in the last two years as a result of the attacks.

It is equally thought provoking, the anguish and excruciating agony of the surviving family members of the Boko Haram adherents who are now finding it difficult to live in the midst of the larger society for fear of molestation or stereotype.

Ustaz Bashir Mustapha, a renowned cleric, was killed in his house in Gwange area of Maiduguri metropolis few days after he featured in a radio programme. Up till now, his family are yet to recover from the shock even as they are waiting to hear something from the authorities.

“If not for the money given to the family by sympathizers, our first born who is in a higher institution in Adamawa State may not have been able to go back to school,” she said.

Many other people including a 37-year-old church leader, Rev. Bulus T. Marwa, Philip Luka, 22 and Paul Mathew, 21 were among those who lost their lives at the end of last year and their families are yet to overcome the trauma.

“There is no help in sight…I mean all of us are in trouble because there is no safety and nowhere to run to feel at home,” Mr Daniel, a cousin of Paul Mathew said.

For Mr Luka Damulai, the leader of another family who lost a son in another attack, the pains are still hitting the entire family.

“The incidence keeps reoccurring to us and we are still asking why and what is the gain in killing people and the attitude of relevant authorities towards the massacre,” he said.

He observed that there is  a weak judicial system and total lackadaisical attitude on the part of government to prosecute offenders and take care of the families of the bereaved.

“We have temporarily relocated to another house for fear of another attack by the gunmen.

“It is a great loss to the entire family but who are we to question the lord? Despite the inadequacies of the powers that be, what I am praying for is that the killers should be brought to justice,” Mr Luka added.

Ironically, reaching the families of the slain policemen who have recorded the highest casualty since the renewed attack has proved daunting.

Following frequent enquiries, Borno State police commissioner, Mohammed Abubakar urged Sunday Trust to be patient. “We will allow you access to the families of our officers and men who were killed but not now,” the commissioner said.

“As I am talking to you now, we are planning to remove the corpse of one of our men who was killed at an armed robbery scene on Monday along Shehu Laminu Way in Maiduguri,” the commissioner added.

A policeman, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said it would be difficult to meet with the families of slain policemen because most of the deceased were from other states. “They were deployed here on special assignments and they usually leave their wives in their places of primary assignment,” he said.

One of the widows, Hannatu Mohammed, was seen at Wulari police barracks along Imam Malik Road in Maiduguri and after series of persuasions, she uttered a few words.

“I and my kids are bereaved and we feel moments of happiness are over. My husband was killed about three months ago and I am about completing my seclusion period,” Hannatu said.

She said many other women who lost their husbands in active service had left for their states immediately after the demise of their bread winners.

“My case is different… I don’t want to go because even if we go back to Adamawa, life will be tougher. My prayer is that the Borno State government will assist us and the police force will pay the entitlements of my late husband so that the life of my two children will not be in jeopardy,” Hannatu said.

In the first week of January this year, a police corporal, simply identified as Mr James, was trailed and killed by two gunmen at the doorstep of his house in Gwange Ward in Maiduguri, shortly after returning from work.

Residents of the area said Mr James, who completed his night duty, arrived home in plain clothes and unknown to him, he was being trailed by the gunmen who shot and killed him on the spot before they fled on a motorcycle.

Though most of his colleagues gave a good account of his life and have consoled his bereaved family, the wife and children are still battling to overcome the loss.

The wife, simply called Mama James Junior, described her husband as hard working, patient and sincere. “We have lost him and the truth is that we have lost everything,” she said.

She also called on the police authorities to pay the entitlements of her husband whom she said has left a big vacuum.

“His aged parents are alive, so also are his brothers and sisters. This is in addition to me and our children who cannot continue schooling, if nothing is done,” she lamented.

While police authorities always amplify their concern for the families of the officers and men killed in active service, there is widespread complaints over late intervention and the attendant effects on dependents of the deceased.

But police commissioner, Abubakar, countered the allegations, saying the police headquarters had adequate plans for all its men and officers who retired, died naturally or killed in the battle front.

“Right now, I am compiling the names of our officers who lost their lives here and as soon as we forward it to Abuja, the families will be compensated,” the commissioner said.

He said, in the report, he would recommend to the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, for special recognition of the deceased.

“Their families will definitely not live in difficulties. Take it from me, they will be taken care of,” he affirmed.

In August last year, gunmen also attacked the private residence of Yobe State governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, on a motorcycle and killed a police constable, one Barde Emos.

Commissioner of police, Mamman Sule, said the gunmen got to the Gwange residence of the governor in Damaturu metropolis around 8pm.

“Immediately they arrived, they shot and killed the police constable who was guarding the house before they fled. He died shortly after he was taken to the hospital. Personally, I feel it is a reprisal attack by the remnants of the Boko Haram members,” he added.

A week after the incident, the Yobe State government donated N500,000 to the family of Constable Barde Emos.

When Sunday Trust visited the family recently, Mrs Barde Emos was still grieving. “The assistance from the state government has helped a lot in keeping the family together, but we are still waiting for the entitlements of our late bread winner,” she said.

The Yobe police commissioner said the circumstances surrounding the death of Barde Emos were similar to the one that happened few months ago at the residence of former governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim where the attackers killed a policeman and fled.

“Some of the sect members are resurfacing in town because they have been discharged and acquitted by courts,” the commissioner said.

Sunday Trust recalled that experiences of the families of the deceased policemen killed in Maiduguri and Potiskum, two years ago leave much to be desired.

In Yobe, such stories showcased unpleasant and heart-touching revelations. Three policemen, one officer of the fire service department and a civilian, were killed between 27th and 30th July, 2009 in various circumstances after the Boko Haram followers allegedly launched attacks on the divisional police headquarters, the office of the Federal Road Safety Commission as well as the office of the National Population Commission.

At that time, investigations revealed that the first victim of the attack was Corporal Moses Gujah who was slaughtered when the attackers, numbering about 50, arrived the Potiskum police station on many motorcycles during a heavy downpour around 2am that fateful day.

Sources said Gujah, who hailed from Karim Lamido in Taraba State, was roasted beyond recognition when the attackers set the station ablaze and his remains were packed the following day.

“He was buried here in Potiskum because his body was decomposing and could not be taken to his native home”, the neighbour of the deceased in Potiskum who craved anonymity, said.

The source said when the parents of the deceased came, they had to go back along with his wife and children without waiting to process anything especially his entitlements.

“I think they took away the wife so that she will not suffer, especially when you look at the difficulties dependents of the late policemen go through while processing the entitlements of their late breadwinners”, our source said.

Another officer who had a disastrous end was Inspector Anthony Adole who was from Benue State. He was among six other policemen hospitalized at the General Hospital, Potiskum, because of the enormity of the injuries they sustained after the attack on the police station.

Adole could not make it at the hospital because he was said to have sustained ‘poisonous arrow shots’ and knife cuts on his head, mouth, shoulder among other places which made him bleed profusely.

Hospital sources said it was his family members who arranged his burial while his wife and children equally left for their hometown to mourn him.

Police Constable Haladu Adamu, equally died on the first day of the attack in Potiskum but not at the police station. “He was among the contingent sent to Baba Aura village where the Boko Haram members opened their camp”, a police constable, who survived the onslaught, told Sunday Trust.

Like the rest, Haladu was also buried by his family members who drove to Potiskum from Bauchi and thereafter, went back to mourn him.

Usman Shehu, the driver of the Fire Service department in Potiskum who was on night duty on the first day of the attack, was also not spared by the attackers. “He, too, was butchered and left in his own blood”, his colleague at the fire service office who simply identified himself as Musa said.

Shehu was also buried by his family members who came from Gadaka, a village close to Potiskum.

When our correspondent visited the village recently, the pregnant wife he left behind had put to bed shortly after his death and the baby was under the custody of his grandparents.

“We are still waiting for his entitlements. We have completed the necessary papers,” his brother, Mu’azu, said.

Many officers who sustained injuries but survived by luck, have either ensured that they got transferred to other safer places or surreptitiously resigned from work.

“It is safer to look for another job because even if you are killed while controlling internal insurrection, the tendency is that your family will be left to wallow in penury,” Auwal Mohammed, who quit the police recently, told our reporter.

On many instances, families of the officers who died while in combat or attacked at  checkpoints or in their houses, hardly wait for police authorities to release funds for burial and other logistics.

“It is common for Muslims to bury their dead early and the relations of the police who are Christians   take the responsibility of the burial so as to avoid decay of the corpses,” Sani Musa, a police corporal in Maiduguri, said.

Pundits are theorising that the serial killings in Maiduguri is far beyond the popular Boko Haram reprisal posturing.

Coming at this time when Nigerians are preparing to go to the polls, one commentator said there was no way people can dismiss the emerging theories that Boko Haram may have fallen into the hands of dubious politicians who may be using them for political vendetta.

He observed that such politicians are bent on undermining the efforts of having rancour-free elections and advised government to confront them head on, no matter the feelings it will generate, stressing that if care is not taken, the seeming ideological warfare will assume full colourations of gangsterism, which will know neither faith nor tribe, creed, class or nationality.

The Borno police commissioner also gave credence to this claims during a press conference recently. According to him, “political thugs” loyal to many politicians have been taking part in the mysterious killings.

He said the police had  started investigating and once they apprehended any politician perpetrating the illegality, such person would be prosecuted.

A prominent politician, Alhaji Awala Ali Ngala, the North East Vice Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, was killed in circumstance many regard as politically motivated. Since his demise, nothing has been heard of him and his families have refused to talk to journalists.

But residents are also alleging that some bad eggs in the police were receiving “good money” from politicians to carry out mysterious killings. The police are yet to confirm or refute the allegation.

The police commissioner said recently the financier of the Boko Haram, Alhaji Bunu Wakil, along with 91 others have been arrested and taken to Abuja. He said dozens of youths recruited into the sect had also been arrested after “intensive surveillance and raiding of red spots.”

He said Bunu Wakil, a contractor and an indigene of Borno State, was being interrogated. “It is a breakthrough for us and we hope to arrest more people because we are getting vital information now,” he said.

The story of the Boko Haram sect came to prominence about six years ago  precisely in 2004 when some of its members opened a camp in the desert town of Kanamma, the headquarters of Yunusari local government area of Yobe State.

Authorities said hundreds of youths, some reading medicine, pharmacy, engineering, agriculture and humanities dropped out of universities and other tertiary institutions from across Nigeria and joined the group with the hope of strategising on how to establish an Islamic government which will wipe out illegalities in all ramifications.

At the camp, it was reported that the Boko Haram who were then known as Nigerian Taliban, were taught how to operate guns, fight in the desert and equally learn other doctrines of the sect which were being propagated by their late leader, Mohammed Yusuf.

For now, billions of naira has been sunk by the federal and Borno State governments in buying vehicles and equipment for security as well as maintaining helicopters that hover the sky in an attempt to curtail the activities of the sect.

This is in the wake of comments from politicians, interest groups and some religious leaders faulting the approach, insisting that dialogue, rather than confrontation, will be the way out.

When the Inspector General of Police visited Borno recently, he expressed reservations over the inability of the police to bring an end to the problem, almost two years after the initial eruption.