BOKO HARAM DESPERATE, RECRUITING RANDOMLY.
With the renewed efforts of Nigerian military
forces currently fighting to restore law and order across the
North-East, the Boko Haram sect is apparently gasping for breath and
desperately recruiting anyone they can lay their hands on, especially at
remote areas of Borno State. Daily Trust reports.
An encounter with fleeing villagers in Maiduguri by our correspondent
revealed that on September 2, at night, gunmen suspected to be Boko
Haram militants invaded a village in Magumeri Local Government Area of
Borno State, recruiting youths to replenish their fast-diminishing
ranks.
Baa Usman, 45, who arrived Maiduguri on September 3, told Daily Trust
that when the gunmen stormed Ngubala village under Bamma district in
Magumeri LGA, they besieged the area, going round houses, asking
residents to come out and assemble in one place.
“When everybody was assembled in a particular location, the gunmen began
selecting young, exuberant ones to sit aside for a preaching session,
as they referred to it. They however allowed others, mostly women,
children and those advanced in age, to go back home,” he said.
Usman added that the gunmen were seen in the village’s market on Sunday,
the market day, though they did not harm anybody. They just went about
calmly, buying foodstuff and some essentials, leaving immediately.
“The gunmen had been hitherto sighted moving around villages of Magumeri
LGA, though they didn’t attack anyone. But they do sometimes seize
cattle and food items and make away with them. They seem very calm when
they’re going about their business, probably because soldiers are only
present in Magumeri town, not in smaller, surrounding villages where the
gunmen enjoy a sort of freedom,” Usman said.
Elsewhere in Mailari village of Konduga Local Government Area of Borno
State, another group of gunmen had on the same Wednesday attacked the
village, killing five residents and leaving scores injured, a source
disclosed. He said though the details remain sketchy, those who
sustained injuries from the attack have been since brought to the
University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and are being treated.
The source added that the gunmen had succeeded in taking away many
persons that could not run for safety, saying the kidnapped persons
would have been forcefully recruited as fighters against their fellow
citizens, stressing that the Boko Haram sect has been now losing
strength and forced into mass recruitment.
The source also said it is clear that the Boko Haram sect is no longer
selective in its current ‘aggressive recruitment drive’, because the
group is currently being dealt severe blows by Nigerian military forces.
He added that in the past, when the terrorists invade a village, they
would be selective in kidnapping their victims, as opposed to the recent
approach of grabbing anyone in sight.
Another twist in the tale has the violent sect reacting to the
multinational forces from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroun blocking
their supply of arms, food and fuel by resorting to using horses and
donkeys for mobility in some parts of Borno State. Daily Trust gathered
that there are very clear indications that the insurgents are running
short vital supplies, including fuel for vehicles.
At Lassa, in the Southern part of Borno State, 93-year-old Ijefeda told
said insurgents on horseback attacked his village, Yafa and abducted
most of its inhabitants and those of nearby hamlets. “They came to Yafa
on horseback and took girls, women and young men. We, the elderly ones,
were about 20 and they basically ignored us as we battled with hunger
and thirst for many, many days,” he said.
But, Ijefeda added, “One day we suddenly saw dust everywhere,
accompanied by gunshots and in no time soldiers were all over the place.
They rescued us and took us to Maiduguri and on the way I was
discussing with other elders and for their villages, too, Boko Haram
members rode horses to attack.”
Modu Bukar was a fisherman at Baga before he fled after an attack. He
revealed that insurgents in the area have formed the habit of raiding
village markets for food. “At first they were coming around to buy fuel
in large quantity, but the supply of fuel became very low. But the
notion that they do not have a lot of money now may be inaccurate. Just
last week at Karna village, after Tungushe, when the vehicle carrying
the Amir (Boko Haram commander) of the area accidentally ran over bread
spread on a mat for sale, he came down and asked his boys to pick up all
the bread, put in their vehicles and he brought out cash and paid.”
Bukar added that recently, in Karna, the insurgents stormed in on
horseback, killed six people, looted shops and homes, snatched the car
of the Chief Imam of the village and used it to cart away their booty.
“There are several complaints by travellers, farmers and villagers being
dispossessed of their horses,” he said.
However, there are no reports of horseback attacks close to the state capital, Maiduguri.
At Balle Mammani, about seven kilometers away from Giwa Barracks in the
outskirts of Maiduguri where Boko Haram attacked and killed six people a
few weeks ago, they carried out the attacks in vehicles and on foot.
Daily Trust also spoke to residents of Abadan, Guzamala and Kukawa, who
said they were attacked recently by insurgents riding horses and
donkeys, armed with sophisticated weapons. Because of that, it came as
no surprise when some days ago, the Nigerian Army banned the use of
horses and donkeys by the general public, particularly traditional
rulers, in Borno State. The Army said the ban was necessary as members
of terrorist group, Boko Haram, have turned to the animals as their
means of transportation.
“Anyone found using a horse would be considered an insurgent,” spokesman
of 7 Division of Nigerian Army, Col. Tukur Gusau, warned.
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