What will stop Boko Haram’s spread?

The story of how the Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad popularly known as Boko Haram sect came into being is actually a matter of deductions and guesswork. This is more evident because the leader of the group, late Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf was said to have been an Islamic preacher with modest followership who moved from […]

The story of how the Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad popularly known as Boko Haram sect came into being is actually a matter of deductions and guesswork. This is more evident because the leader of the group, late Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf was said to have been an Islamic preacher with modest followership who moved from one place to the other in search of more knowledge and at the same time preaching, though not in large gatherings.

 

Mohammed, then in his thirties was said to be an orator and a prolific preacher, whose judgment and explanations in topical issues captured the mind of his listeners with ease. The activities of the ‘Yusufiyya Movement’  (coined from his second name) which is known as the Boko Haram sect in recent times hit the headlines in December, 2003 when their base was discovered in an obscured location between Kanamma and Geidam towns in Yobe State. At that time, they were called ‘Nigerian Taliban Movement’ even though   sources said the members preferred to be called “Muhajirun”, an Arabic word much popular with the Mecca people who moved to Medina (in Saudi Arabia) along with Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in order to escape persecution and to have a conducive atmosphere to practice Islam.

Local residents in Kanamma and environs recalled that for quite some time, members of the group, along with their wives and children constructed and lived in tents as they engaged in religious studies along the shores of the Komadugu-Yobe River, a tributary of the Lake Chad.

“We believe they wanted a secluded life, far-away from the hustles of the cities. I remember vividly that they stayed in this our area (Kanamma bushes) for some time and they don’t even care with the curious glances cast at them by passersby,” Maigari Barde, a resident of Geidam town said.

He said they engaged in farming and other endeavors. “Some of them who spoke to us said the purpose of their seclusion was to perfect how to entrench a life of compassion in the hearts of Muslims and to establish a land full of justice, devoid of rancor and materialism,” he said.

“We believed them because they never attempted attacking us,” he recalled.

Till date, no one can precisely tell what actually prompted the group to suddenly launch a surprise attack against a police station in Kanamma towards the end of 2003; an attack which soon escalated to other police stations in Geidam, Dapchi in Bursari local government area; Babbangida, headquarters of Tarmuwa local government area, and Damaturu, the Yobe State capital where they allegedly killed a police inspector and kidnapped another.

But unconfirmed sources said the attack on Kanamma was “a product of provocation” when some policemen captured some members of the group following a disagreement with locals over the use of land.

Sensing the level at which the outrage can reach sources said the federal government at that time approved the mobilization of soldiers from the Recce Battalion, Nguru and the 21 Armoured Brigade Maiduguri to confront the sect members. The fiasco, which ended on 3rd January, 2004 lasted for about four days and recorded many casualties. Arguably, going by what manifested in Kanamma, it may not be wrong to say that the present day Yusufiyya movement had its roots in Yobe State and since their encounter with the military there was a kind of retreat for almost eight months.

It was on Monday September, 20, 2004 that another round of violence erupted again. The group had an encounter with some policemen in Bama and later attacked a police station in Bama and Gwoza respectively. And like the Yobe insurgency, the military were deployed to curtail the crisis. At the end of the day, both the police and the sect members recorded casualties with attendant loss of lives. Perhaps, as far as the activities of the sect were concerned, there was a long silence in the North East part of the country after the Bama encounter.

The leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf continued his preaching unabated at MARCAS headquarters, located close to the Railway Terminus in Maiduguri. Though it is on record that he was being invited severally to Abuja for various purposes, things went awry in July, 2009.

He became so popular in the circle of students and professionals who aspired to get more Islamic knowledge from him. Yusuf equally empowered hundreds of youths by creating avenues for them to earn a living as they continued to listen to his preaching. Dozens of taxi cabs, buses and motorcycles were reportedly procured by him and distributed to youths, who in turn remit stipends to him at the end of the day.

“That singular gesture of youth empowerment had endeared hundreds of youth to Mohammed Yusuf. Even at death, the beneficiaries have endless respect for him because they believe he had impacted on them both economically and religiously,” said a senior lecturer at the University of Maiduguri who craved for anonymity.

The prelude to the shelling of the sect’s headquarters was the unrest that sprang up in Bauchi on the 26th July, 2009 which, like a wild fire, spread to Yobe, Borno and Kano States in less than one week.

In Yobe for instance, the members laid siege at the Divisional Police headquarters in Potiskum where they killed a police officer, a fire service driver and a driver before they set ablaze the police station, the office of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as well as the office of the National Population Commission (NPC).

They later had a fierce battle with the combine forces of the army and the police in Mamudo, a village few kilometres away from Potiskum where 33 members of the Boko Haram sect whose age ranges from 20-40 were killed.

But the Potiskum encounter was like a child’s play when compared with what transpired in Maiduguri around the same time. No accurate figure of casualty has been declared both by the security forces, governments, hospitals or the sect members but observers say over eight hundred people including security agents, members of the sect and civilians were killed when the federal government ordered the deployment of the military to quell the uprising.

The sect headquarters was razed to the ground and the leader of the group Mohammed Yusuf killed.  Also, his father in law Ba’a Fugu Mohammed and Buji Foi, a former commissioner under Governor Ali Sheriff were killed. The battle which lasted between 26th and 31 July, 2009 was presumed to have nip in the bud the uprising that nearly crippled social and economic activities in the region, alas it did not.

Though residents prayed that the ‘relative peace’ being experienced around Bauchi, Yobe and Borno would continue unhindered after 2009, it was soon beclouded by widespread allegations that some members of the sect, including their leaders who were arrested alive were killed extra-judicially.

Many video clips gave credence to the claim but despite the fact that the National Assembly, the Police Service Commission among other stakeholders ordered for investigation into the matter, nothing was heard about the case until recently.

Indisputably, the one year anniversary of the death of Mohammed Yusuf  ushered in a new trend to the crises when members of the sect, who were presumed to have been wiped off as a result of the 2009 uprising suddenly appeared in a more sophisticated and more organised manner even though without a verifiable headquarter.

“Globalization and sophistication in information technology is what is doing the magic for the more audaciously emerging group,” Philip Jones, a computer and internet engineer said.

When they resurfaced in July, 2010, few days before the one year anniversary of their leader, the modus operandi of the members changed completely. Initially, it was rumoured that the sect’s second in command, Mallam Abubakar Shekau was killed alongside Yusuf but in what could be described as a twist of events, Shekau’s voice was heard granting an interview to a foreign radio station where he confirmed that he was alive, hale and hearty and had assumed the leadership of the group.

However, a letter distributed to newsmen few months ago gave insight as to why the group refused to lay down their arms. “We want to make it clear that we are fighting not just because our mosque and centre of learning were destroyed (in Maiduguri), or because our wealth have been seized, or because we were chased out of our houses. The reason why we are at war is because our freedom has been curtailed,” they said. “It was while we were propagating Islam that the government connived with some Imams and ward heads and attacked us in many states.”

And in a recent declaration, the spokesman of the group, Abu Zaid said they are targeting traditional rulers, clerics and politicians because of the roles they allegedly played before, during and after the 2009 imbroglio. “Some unpatriotic scholars gave them (government) misleading justification on the need to attack us and the federal government under Umaru Yar’adua gave the open directive to the security operatives to attack Muslims which led to the destruction of their mosque and desecration of the Holy Qur’an as well as ill-treatment of innocent women and children,” Abu Zaid said.

And as the clock ticks towards the 2nd anniversary of the death of the leader of the sect (July 2011), the outreach of the group appears to have extended to many northern states including Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger and the Federal Capital Territory according to news reports in which the sect’s leadership claim responsibility for the attacks.

In Sokoto, many have expressed fear over the possibility of Boko Haram coming into the state. There were rumours making rounds that after Katsina State, the Boko Haram planned to move to Sokoto. Last week, vice chairman National Council of Ulama of Izaltul  Bidia Wa Iqamatus Sunna,JIBWIS  sheikh Jingiri  said in Sokoto while commenting on the Boko Haram issue  that  no true Muslim will be involved or support the act. The Jos-based Islamic scholar called on government to conduct thorough investigation to avoid implicating or arresting innocent people.

Though Adamawa was the only state in the North East yet to experience any attack, already there is palpable tension and apprehension, particularly in the state capital, a situation that has spurred security agencies to brace up for any eventuality.

Religious related violence and killings are certainly not a new phenomenon, especially in some part of the state; but the spate of bombings and killings being perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect  in the neigbouring states have somewhat instilled fear into most residents, considering the facts that the group are bent on capturing other northern states.

Specifically, palpable fear is said to have gripped residents of Yola, Mubi and Numan in recent weeks following reports that Boko Haram could strike-out in guerilla style attacks to free their members that were said to have been transferred to some prison cells in the state.

Most Muslims and Islamic scholars interviewed believe that the doctrine of Boko Haram is different from the teachings of Islam. According to Sheikh   Abdullahi Bala Lau, deputy national chairman of Jama’atul Izalatul Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah and chief Imam of Demsawo Central mosque, of Jimeta, “What the Boko Haram sect is doing is not in agreement with the teachings of Islam. Having said that I also made bold to say that what is happening is a reflection of the socio-economic situation in the country, which the government must look into. Secondly, government should evolve ways of dialoguing with the leaders of the group; no extra-judicial killing should be tolerated. Again, the government should work hard to address the needs of the people of Nigeria generally. If this is done, some of these insurgents will just disappear. Good governance is the word here.”

The sheikh maintained that the group is also taking a cue from what has happened in the Niger Delta region where they watched government squander money in the name of amnesty. “So, they too want the same done to them; all these have nothing to do with Islam as a religion. But I would recommend that the government should create the ministry of religion where religious issues would always be sorted out. The ministry will comprise both Muslims and Christians alike. And above all, representatives should hold the trust given to them by the people in good faith by governing well and providing the people with good things of life,” he advised.

To him, government has committed grave mistakes that need to be reviewed for this problem to be addressed. “First, government has destroyed houses of Boko Haram members and their leader was arrested and killed without proper investigation. Secondly, those who killed him were not fished out not to talk of punishing them and finally, government has embarked on indiscriminate arrest of people, most of whom are innocent,  in the name of Boko Haram,” said Bala Lau.

Mallam Husseini Njidda is of the opinion that the current operation of the group differs greatly from when it started as Ahlil-Sunnah wal Jamma, meaning followers of Prophet Muhammad’s teachings. He said: “At the outset, the aim of the group was to separate itself from the rot in the society. Members of the group, many of who were from wealthy families, believed that the Nigerian society was excessively corrupt with unpardonable immoral practices at every facet of life, and for them not to be contaminated by the corruption in the country, they had to quarantine themselves and live apart from the rest of the society.’’

Activities of Boko Haram in Bauchi was noticed after several visits to Bauchi State by the leader of the sect late Mohammed Yusuf in 2008 and 2009. The late leader held discussions with different groups of youths and the Muslim community.  Youths embraced the preaching of the group that some of them retired from the civil service and there are some who withdrew from the universities and other tertiary institutions at different levels.

Residents said activities of the sect worried the Bauchi Emirate Council which forced the then Emir of Bauchi Late Alhaji Dr Suleiman Adamu to summon a meeting of religious scholars and direct them to enlighten Muslims on the importance of acquiring both western and Islamic education.

The group became violent one night in 2009 after they were cordoned by security agencies in a fight which led to the loss of lives and properties. They attacked Dutsen Tanshi Police station and at the end of the clash the State Government demolished the entire structures and residential buildings in Federal low Cost Housing.

There was a brief lull in violence after that, but the jail break in 2010 where the sect broke into Bauchi Federal Prison and released all the inmates and the recent attack of Dutsen Tanshi and Bulkachuwa Police Station by the sect where five policemen were killed with several others injured ushered in a new era of violence involving the group. The sect has also claimed responsibility for the recent Bauchi Army Barrack bomb blast in which 13 people were killed and 40 injured.

Some of the Divisional Police officers that spoke to Weekly trust explained that if government wants the  Police to tackle the issue of Boko Haram, they should ensure that policemen get their allowances as and when do, they should increase the number of policemen because they are inadequate and government should release money to them which they can use to pay for information from informants. They also said that in the state where there is a threat all policemen should remove their uniforms and mix with the community, assuring that if these are granted they can wipe out the menace of the sect.

Since 2008, when the crisis broke out in Jos, there has remained a heavy military presence in Jos town and its environs. Though the curfew imposed on the metropolis has been lifted, there are still many areas in the town where many depending on their faiths cannot go. But with the Christmas Eve bomb blast in certain parts of Jos which was later claimed by the Boko Haram sect, the awareness of the presence of the sect and what they could do has grown.

The Police Force Public Relations Officer DCP Olusola Amore said the force has sufficient personnel deployed across the country to convert the perceived attacks on people by the Boko Haram sect members. Also the police have obtained equipments including surveillance gadgets that will be used in crime detection. He said security measures are being implemented by all security agents to hold back further attacks. The police spokesman in Abuja SP Moshood Jimoh said inspector General of Police Hafiz Abubakar Ringim has approved the reinforcement of the policemen in Abuja and subsequently 5000 officers were posted to theFCT police command. The officers were already drafted in strategic units to buttress crime prevention preparations.

The Director of Defence Information, Colonel Mohammed Yerima said the military have the capability to contain all forms of security threats but can only intervene based on instruction from relevant authorities. He said internal securities matters are basically handled by the police and military will as much as possible abide by laid down procedures.