The Fall Of Boko Haram In Maiduguri
It all began with the stick (gora) and so it will end with the stick is a common saying among the residents of Maiduguri these days. The youths of Maiduguri have formed themselves in to several vigilante groups popularly referred to as civilian JTF, wielding sticks, cutlasses and other local weapons to confront the hitherto dreaded members of the Yusufiyya sect popularly known as Boko Haram. This is in reference to the fact that when the sect began its drift towards violence, its members who were before then distinguishable by their mode of dressing only, began to move about with sticks.
Going back memory lane, Alhaji Modu Malami of Lamisula ward said when the sect gained popularity and a large a followership; they began to hold public preaching in several locations within the city center. For example, he said apart from the daily preaching in their Head Quarters which they named the Markas, other
popular areas were Lawan Bukar area and in front of the works department of the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, near the Shehu’s Palace among others. They were seen dressed in knee-length jumpers and trousers, with red, white or green turbans worn according to designation or rank, a waist coat (farmala) with many pockets and a particular type of sandals which they bought from second-hand clothes dealers.
Another resident, Mallam Aisami added, because of the revolutionary nature of the preaching; castigating leaders and promising Islamic government based on the Sharia, where the rights of all would be protected and everyone would be equal before the law, Mohammed Yusuf was able to win the hearts of the teeming under-educated, unemployed youths who thronged his HQ in large numbers. He himself was a youth who had overcome what he called the trappings of boko which include modernization, globalisation, western education etc to realise his ‘full potentials’ he told them.
He was very outspoken and was a good orator with a good command of Hausa and Kanuri, two of the most-spoken languages in and around Maiduguri. He soon began to take his message out side Maiduguri to local governments as well as to neighbouring states like Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, and as far as Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto etc, forming branches with executive committees under commanders named Amirs.
Meanwhile, mainstream Islamic preachers such as the late Shiekh Jaafar, Ustaz Abubakar Kyari and a host of others began to draw the attention of people and especially the government to the looming danger posed by the group. They warned government against non-regulation of public preaching and the consequences of the possible indoctrination of the gullible public by people who professed strange ideologies. Yet government did very little to halt the situation from deteriorating and the youths continued to flock there at least sure of free or cheap meals at the Markas.
Later on, Mohammed Yusuf was arrested and released without any charges brought against him, after which he became more emboldened and thus more radicalized threatening public peace in his preaching, especially when his followers began to have confrontations with members of ‘Operation Flush’. For example, he was said to have said, nothing would deter them from their mission and that the people of Maiduguri could not kill them and still sit under trees and laugh. Sitting idly under trees in groups known as majalisa to which almost all males belong was a feature of Maiduguri leisure life which has since disappeared due to the activities of Boko Haram.
Adding to the history of the insurgency in Maiduguri, another resident Mallam Abdu who gave his account based on eye-witness report said a day before the insurgency began, he was going home after watching a league match at night; passing by Sir Kashim Ibrahim road, he saw the mobile policemen stationed at the railway junction check point which leads to the Markas about 400 meters away, physically engaged in a scuffle with some members of the sect easily identifiable by their mode of dressing. When the police were overwhelmed, they shot a gun into the air to disperse the crowd, which drew the attention of more members. The police then called for reinforcement. He said it was like a planned attack to incite the police into action.
He said the police arrived in two hilux vans and chased the members back into the Markas but they never came out. They were killed and their guns and vans were taken over. With this momentary victory over security officials, they rushed out armed with guns, rocket propellers, mounted on the vans they had seized, bows and arrows, cutlasses and cudgels etc and launched attacks on police stations and the nearby central prison, freeing all in-mates and burning down buildings.
Mallam Abdul said they thought the worst was over, but the following day, soldiers moved in and before long, he said they began to see soldiers fleeing from the direction using every available mode of transport- in taxis, two or three on Okada and even on foot. He and others whose houses are located along Shehu Garbai road linking kashim Ibrahim road to the Shehu’s Palace round about which leads to the Dandal police station and the adjoining Police barracks as well as other parts of the town all witnessed the tragedy unfold. He said they realised how dangerous the situation was when they saw two soldiers running on foot being chased by a small mob wielding dangerous weapons. Just then, one of the two who was ahead of the other stopped an okada coming out from Budum junction and climbed. They tried to wait for the other to join them but he was too weak to catch up as he had been wounded with an arrow on his leg. The mob caught up with him and his colleague was forced to flee on the okada abandoning him as both of them had been demobilized.
The mob got to him just before the late Senator Idrisa Kadi’s mosque and realising his predicament, he stopped, raised his hands and declared he was a Muslim and even attempted to say the Shahada to convince them but they would have none of that. They attacked him, beating him with every available weapon and when he was dead or almost dead, he said one of them lifted a heavy stone and dropped it on the soldier’s head, another used an arrow to pierce his eyes and it was at this stage many of the on-lookers left in horror. He said one of the onlookers he named as Bilal, even tried to intervene by telling them to leave the body alone as the man was already dead, but they warned him to stay clear.
Mallam Abdul said even though he left, others who witnessed the end said more members later arrived, some on motor cycles they snatched from okada riders and rode over the body several times. He said I could cross-check my facts with military or police authorities to confirm the veracity on account of the body they later picked at the said location and the name of the deceased soldier as Bukar because when his colleagues came to pick the body, one of them uttered the name in shock after identification. In fact he gave the name of one of the attackers as Mahmud whom he said he knew personally.
The following day, troops were brought in from Abuja who passed through the same route to the Markas to quell the insurgency. Mean while, Boko Haram had taken over some parts of Maiduguri like the whole of the railway area up to custom market and down to Baga road and had even mounted their checkpoints. He said the soldiers from Abuja were mobilsed for a real war situation and came in heavy gear, armoured tanks and other gadgets. However, after realising, they were overwhelmed by superior fire power, the leaders of Boka Haram made a public address that it was time for Hijra and that everyone was on their own. Doors were left for members to help themselves to the large sums of money in their possession to help them escape.
Those of them that were indigenes of Maiduguri all fled without much casualty as they knew the maze of interconnected streets which led them to their various houses. Those of them that came in from neighbouring towns and states after the declaration of victory and the hoisting of their flag on the first day of the crisis were the ones that were killed by the soldiers. This is so because they neither knew their ways nor did they have anywhere to hide. Yusuf himself hid among rams in his father-in-law’s house where he was arrested and subsequently executed.
Those of them that ran back to their houses later regrouped and became what we know today as Boko Haram who have been terrorrising Maiduguri for the past three years. Shortly after wards, a new leader emerged: a heavily- bearded Abubakar Shekau appeared in video surrounded by masked gun-wielding men as well as images of men training in military uniform and style which was being circulated, threatening to come back for revenge. He threatened to slaughter security personnel, or anyone who stood in their way especially informants.
Even though the threat was news worthy, no one thought or even imagined it could be real. Yet it agitated the minds of residents knowing the danger the sect posed to public peace, but their fears were quickly allayed by security sources issuing a statement dismissing Shekau’s video as fake; that he was already dead and therefore could not have made that video then nor could he carry out the threat. Life then returned to normalcy as residents carried on their daily activities without any fear.
- Gana wrote in from Maiduguri
CONTINUES TOMORROW
