We’re treated like animals, Darul-Islam members cry out

On entering Mokwa, one of the things that catch a visitor’s attention – apart from petrol tankers parked on both sides of the road – is the presence of battle-ready police men in many hundreds, deployed to sack the sect last Sunday. The police are the only ones moving freely along the streets, their presence […]

On entering Mokwa, one of the things that catch a visitor’s attention – apart from petrol tankers parked on both sides of the road – is the presence of battle-ready police men in many hundreds, deployed to sack the sect last Sunday. The police are the only ones moving freely along the streets, their presence making entrance into the college difficult, except for hawkers who are allowed to bring in knick-knacks for sale.

Clearance has to be obtained from the Niger State Commissioner of Police if a visitor must gain access to the cordoned area, the Niger State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Richard Oguche, told Weekly Trust, adding that that the Presidency is not happy with the coverage the exercise is getting, thus the restriction of journalists from accessing the camp.

In the camp, several female sect members of Darul-Islam sit outside classrooms in their black Niqabs, either holding their children or backing them, while some of the men were seen either discussing under the trees in groups, or eating food bought from hawkers, under trees with their children. Most of them looked unkempt and weary.

Also, Weekly Trust learnt about the return of about 10 Nigerians with Fulani features, who had earlier been deported as foreigners. They were returned to the camp for re-registration. The Niger State Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, Malam Ibrahim Danjuma Auta, said a mistake cannot be ruled out in such arbitrary deportations.

Ghost town, real strife

The once-thriving former Darul-Islam community in Tegina, is now enveloped by an eerie silence except the occasional outburst of laughter by the mobile policemen stationed there. The place is now left to roaming goats and scuttling chickens whose owners are held in the camp of sorts.

A source from a Federal Government agency that came for on-the-spot assessment of the facilities in the camp told Weekly Trust on condition of anonymity, that it does seem the government was not prepared to camp the members there because even basic facilities are lacking. “We were taken round the camp. There are no mattresses, no blankets. Women and children are sleeping on bare floor. We learnt that they were told to dig the ground and defecate inside and cover it because there is no toilet. The population of the children and young ones far outnumber the adults. The only thing we were impressed with is the food and the place they are cooking it. Government should have adequately prepared the camp before bringing close to 4,000 people here. There is no excuse for this poor arrangement,” he said.

In a telephone chat with Darul-Islam spokesman, Ustaz Adam Ibn Abubakar, Weekly Trust learned that the condition under which they have been held is abysmal. “We have been trying to reach other independent media to come and see the injustice government is meting out to us but they only restricted us to NTA, which is a government mouthpiece.”

“Our women and children sleep on bare floor because there are no mattresses and blankets. Most of them have not changed clothes since Sunday. In fact, some of the women sleep in the open veranda, because classrooms are not enough. We are treated like animals. Most of us are looking rough and unkempt as a result of sleeping on the bare floor,” he explained.

Abubakar added that water and food are scarce in the camp. “Most of us have not taken our bath for days because most of the time there is no water for ablution let alone take our bath. We escort our wives to the bush to take bath when water is available, because there is only one bathroom. On Tuesday (18/8/2009), we had to protest against scarcity of water before one of the nurses attached to the camp brought bags of sachet water. As am talking to you now (11am, Wednesday), we haven’t had breakfast. Lunch, too, comes mostly around 4 pm. Those of us who have money go to hawkers to buy food.”

The Darul-Islam spokesman said government is forcing them to sign papers whose content only reflects government’s decision. “We have committed no crime because the police told us so. When they descended on us last Sunday, we asked what our crime was and they said it is an order from above. That government simply doesn’t want us at Darul–Islam. We left our houses, farmlands, bags of fertilizers, lands and business behind and they are now forcing us to sign what they call financial entitlements for our assets.”

The controversies

Commenting on the alleged wife-swapping which Darul-Islam members are accused of practising, he said such a practice is un-Islamic. “Islam does not accept that, but when you divorce your wife, another person can marry her. That is what is acceptable. They even said we marry our daughters out at the age of seven. We don’t do such a thing.”

The spokesman also said it is true that they restrict the movement of women and girls because the Qur’an doesn’t condone their unnecessary movement. According to him, they are supposed to seek the permission of their husbands for the married women, and fathers for the young unmarried girls before they go out. He said at Darul-Islam, hawking by women and girls is forbidden.

Malam Adam predicts a very difficult Ramadan for members of Darul-Islam. “We don’t know how and where we are going to observe this Ramadan especially for the 95 of our members stranded at Niger Republic border. While other Muslims are busy preparing, we are here languishing in captivity for an unjust reason. We leave the authorities to Allah and their conscience.”

The Director of Press, Niger State Government House, Bala Abdulkadir, said “Niger State Government should be commended for doing something early enough to forestall problems because this is how Boko Haram started before they degenerated into a threat to the society. The issue of compensation and the future of the settlement are all in the hands of the Federal Government for now.”

PPRO Oguche, said: “the Government of Niger State has done everything possible to make life comfortable for the detainees at Mokwa to the point of moving the offices of the Commissioner for Health, Director-General of Poverty Alleviation and State Emergency to the camp. A unit of mobile police, too, have been stationed at Darul-Islam to protect their property from being looted and the state has evaluated their property for compensation,” he explained.

International incident?

On the stranded deportees at Kamba, a border town between Niger Republic and Nigeria in Kebbi State, Immigration spokesman, Abdulkareem Aliyu, said as at yesterday evening, their papers have been re-stamped and they have been allowed to enter Niger Republic.

Alhaji Mohammed Adamu Lwafu, Chairman, Mokwa Local Government, expressed gratitude to the Niger State Government for heeding the petitions against the sect, saying their continued stay in the local government area would have disturbed the peace in the area, as people are already getting agitated about their ways of life, especially how they practise Islam.

Sarkin Sudan, Alhaji Saidu Namaska of Kontagora, also said: “I applaud the government for its effort to raid and dislodge the people. I pray the sad incident of the Boko Haram does not happen here in Niger State.”

In Abuja, Imam Fuad Adeyemi, Chief Imam of the Al-Habbibiyah Mosque told Weekly Trust that the action of the government against members of the Darul-Islam can only be justified if they are a threat to the security of the state. “Islam does not tolerate fitna (trouble) and as such, if they are found to be making trouble, government is right in deterring deter them.”

Adeyemi, however, observed: “But from all we have read so far, the security agencies have not found anything incriminating against them. Boko Haram is not a justification for treating thousands of Muslim families in such a humiliating manner. After all, the  government showed a lot of leniency to the Niger Delta militants who had clearly wreaked serious economic havoc and destroyed security facilities in the Niger Delta, more than Boko Haram and harmless Darul-Islam. Will it be wrong if Muslims conclude that government is waging a silent war against Muslims? They should handle Darul-Islam with a lot of dignity and fairness befitting a citizen of a nation.”

Barrister Umar Muhammad Oloeje, a legal practitioner in Abuja, condemned the government’s action in strong terms.  “Clearly, the way and manner government sacked the Darul-Islam people is unconstitutional and it violates their fundamental right to practise their religion peacefully, as long as they don’t harm others. I wonder the kind of legal advice the Attorney-General of the Federation, Michael Aoandokaa, is giving the Federal Government. How do you sack people who obviously have not broken any law? The Federal Government has some questions to answer,” he emphasised.”

Weekly Trust learnt that the government is bent on forcefully relocating members of the sect to their various indigenous areas, but before that is done the captives will remain under the ‘difficult’ conditions they are currently being subjected to. Worrisome also is the resolve by the people not to sign the compensation agreement they say government arranged without their input.