An on the spot investigation by our
correspondent suggests that the current situation in some parts of Borno
State may amount to genocide. Although the focus has been on the
bombings and kidnappings as well as the potential human rights
violations and crimes against humanity, nobody has been bold enough to
call the situation there an outright massacre.
The possible genocide extends to women,
children and Christians, according to BDSUNDAY investigations. The
dastardly act is carried out largely by attrition and execution.
Scores of indigenes who escaped the
latest round of massacre in Attagara, a Christian community in Gwoza
Local Government in Borno State testified to systematic killings and
their experience remain as vivid as the hundreds of ‘fathers’ still
unburied days after their massacre.
One of the widows who buried their dead
63 years Rifkatu Samaila, one of the few
women who was courageous and fortunate enough to have her husband
buried, told BD SUNDAY in a village near Attagara that the Boko Haram
sect started the onslaught on Attagara on the 1st of June. She said the
villagers defended themselves until June 3rd when they came back in
thousands (enough to surround the whole village) in an attempt to wipe
out the entire community. She said after the attack, the sect spent an
extra five days in the village; moving freely without any challenge.
“For over one year, whether it’s raining
or sunny nobody sleeps in that village. We spend the whole nights,
everyday watching. During this period, the insurgents were coming to
attack the village everyday but were not successful because our men were
repelling them. So, the insurgents realized that they may not be able
to attack the village unless they called for reinforcement; that was why
they had to call all their followers in the region-from Sambisa, Banki,
Gwoza and all other places, to team up together to carry out the
attack”, she narrated.
According to her, the killers in the
latest attack numbered about a thousand. “They surrounded the village
and opened fire indiscriminately, wiping out all the men and some women
and children who were unfortunate; they took away all the livestock and
food stuffs of their victims in the process. They took grains,
groundnut, bean; all farm produce in all the houses. They took away
everything. They sacked the whole village. Anything that appealed to
them was taken and they destroyed what they considered worthless”, she
said.
Samaila’s account reflects the fierce
method of killing that has been adopted by Boko Haram not only in
Attagara village but also across the state. The killings were often
gruesome and barbaric. But even more disappointing is the failure by
teeming Nigerians to make the important link that the Boko Haram
campaigns is one of the key phases of the brewing Genocide in the
north—a genocide that has led to the death of over 12,000 Nigerians so
far.
The Attagara massacre began at about 10
am, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to BDSUNDAY. On the very morning
President Goodluck Jonathan went to Delta state to visit with his
friend (Ayo Oritsejafor), who was setting up a private university.
To make matters worse, a day after the
incident began, the Borno state governor had boasted in an interview
with Voice of America (VOA) that the Boko Haram war lord (Abubakar
Shekua) was a ‘mad man’ who could easily be defeated.
The Boko Haram team went to the helpless
Attagara village in their thousands to revenge the defeat they had
suffered in the hands of the valiant villagers. The terrorists had
attempted to invade the village on two occasions but the villagers
successfully defended their village without the help of the Military;
killing five members of the sect with locally made arms (arrow,
javelins, gun and cutlasses). The sect enraged with this defeat,
mobilized all their members in the region and returned with
sophisticated weapons to annihilate the village completely.
The notorious sect deceived the
villagers into believing they were soldiers sent to protect them. The
deception worked because the leadership of the village had earlier gone
to the Military to request for assistance and were given assurances of
protection.
Consequently, the villagers were
persuaded to lay down their weapons in the belief that they were
soldiers sent to their rescue. They persuasion succeeded because they
men wore military uniform, and they came in vehicles befitting only
National Military and NATO soldiers. In obedience to ‘government troops’
they laid down their arms; and were directed to the village square
where a purported security meeting would take place.
It was too late for the villagers to
realize they had been herded to their graves. They were massacred in the
village square once they got there with rocket launchers and armoured
tank guns. Some were shot on their heads, buttocks and others their
stomach ripped opened with bullets. Those who were already on the ground
were shot at point blank range. Young ladies had their breast slashed
off. Those who were fleeing towards the mountains were chased and fired
at. All the men were killed except few among those who were stationed to
guard the churches and the only primary school in Attagara. Children
between the ages of 7 to 10 years were abducted and carried into slavery
to be use as child soldiers. Mothers who struggled to rescue their sons
were shot dead. Some male children who were able to escape were quickly
disguised to look like female children by courageous and smart mothers.
Several days after the incident there
was still no sign of the Military. The killers watched the women bury
their dead! At the time our Correspondent attempted to enter Attagara,
the men from the outlawed group, Boko Haram were still in charge.
BD SUNDAY can authoritatively report
that, the only place soldiers were sighted near Attagara was in
Ashigashiya near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon where the Emir of Gwoza
lives; about 20 kilometers east of Attagara.
Speaking to BD SUNDAY, Rev Donatus Tada,
of Believers Authority church, who lost three of his brothers, his
house and church building to the attack, said “They burnt my house and
church and all the churches in Attagara which were more than five
denominations”.
He said the casualties recorded in both
Attagara and neighbouring villages when put together were numbering over
five hundred. According to him, five days after the genocide attempt,
the insurgents were still in the village; preventing those who had fled
from coming to see if there was anything they could salvage.
“Even throughout last week they were
there taking the spoil. None of the residents who fled has been able to
visit the village. They burnt down the whole place. Nothing was left
standing”, he said.
Though, the number of male children
carried away by the insurgents was is to be ascertained, BD SUNDAY can
authoritatively report that Attagara’s male children were indeed
abducted.
Samaila explained that, male children
were snatched from their mothers by the insurgents during the attack and
taken away. She said the attack was so fierce to the extent that
mothers and children fled in different directions and nobody knew where
anybody was. “Nobody ever suspected that they would come in such a
thousand as they did.
“Those who have fled to Cameroon are stranded in between the river considered as boundary between Nigeria and Cameroun.
All the people who fled there for days now have no food and water; no
provision of any kind! They cannot go into Cameroon and they cannot go
back to their homes”, she said.
“Two of my grand children are still
missing but someone told me that they were able to escape to a
neighbouring village. Many parents are still looking for their children
as I speak with you now. Right now, the whole village has been wiped
out. A village of about a thousand households. The only people that are
left in Attagara are the extremely old ones (those who are blind who
cannot make even fire for themselves). I am very worried for them. No
one knows their plight because the whole village is filled with unburied
corpses. I was courageous enough to bury my husband they killed! Many
don’t have anybody to bury them! They have swollen up and stinking right
now”, she said as she wiped tears from her eyes.
She further said that the dead bodies
were so many that she lost count having counted over a hundred. “On that
day, anywhere you go in the village there were dead bodies! The matter
of numbering the dead was very challenging because it was too many!
Women were the ones burying their dead because there were no men”, she
said.
“What I will like to beg the world is to
help us ask our government whether we are still Nigerians. We on the
eastern part of that mountain (Bayan Dutse), we are naked there. As far
as I am concern that land does not belong to Nigeria because the
government of Nigeria is not in control of the territory. Boko Haram is
at liberty to do whatever they can there; and nobody is interested in
rescuing the land from them.”
“They have hoisted their flag everywhere
since 2007. There is no authority that has gone down to find out what
is wrong in the place. Nobody wants to listen to our cries. Nobody wants
to confirm stories about us, nobody considers our plight as matter of
national importance.”
“If they don’t want us, the government
should release us and we will be willing to join Cameroon. Maybe
Cameroon would protect our interest. Even with the massacre, the
Nigerian government is yet to come here and see what the Boko Haram have
turned the place into. They only come here during the time of elections
to ask for our votes. Even the present administration in the state;
they only visit the western part of the mountain. Why is it so? Right
now, our own land is in the hand of Boko Haram and the Nigerian
government does not want to liberate us”, she cried.
Nine year old Stella Yakubu, who was
lucky to escape with her grandmother when the terrorists struck told
BDSUNDAY in Maiduguri that they came in thousands in Military uniform
and vehicles. The two vehicles she described could be armour tanks. She
said two of the vehicles they brought were very big and rolling on the
ground with big gun at the top of it.
According to the little girl who was
still frightened during the interview, they chased and shot two men
close to where she had run to take cover in a nearby bush; packing
whatever they considered valuable and setting houses ablaze.
“They abducted many boys and any mother
who struggled with them over her son was shot dead. They also went with
some women. On our way out of Attagara to Maiduguri we met another set
who tried to take me away from my grandmother. While my grandma was
struggling with them that was when the Civilian JTF came to our rescue.
The CJTF outnumbered the Boko Haram there”, she said. She said she
trekked from Attagara to Gwoza (about ten kilometers) from the western
part of the mountain towards the Mandara Mountain (a difficult journey
parents would normally not allow their wards to embark on).
“I saw plenty dead bodies everywhere! It
was difficult to count how many people were lying dead! They came with
two motors that had a gun on it. Very big like caterpillar. Some came
with okada (motorcycles).
The vehicles were exactly military
colour! We actually thought they were soldiers when they came. They
killed my grandpa that I was staying with”, she said.
Rifkatu Ibrahim was another brave girl
who singlehanded escaped during the 3rd June Attagara onslaught and
found her way through the complex mountains to Maiduguri town.
She told BD SUNDAY that she was at home
with her family when she heard the news that the Military were coming to
the village and that the residents should keep their arms; not knowing
it was the insurgents who were coming to destroy the entire village.
According to her, even people who fled
to the mountain were followed by the insurgents and shot at close range
with blood spilling everywhere. “I was able to escape to a distance
mountain. By the time the shooting had died down the next day we crept
back there; and we found out that there were a lot of people lying on
the ground; they were all dead! Countless dead bodies! I have never seen
such before! Even when I closed my eyes I could still see dead bodies! I
found myself shivering! The insurgents went to a nearby mountain where
some residents had succeeded in keeping their animals and packed
everything”, she said
She said as they were fleeing, she saw a
girl in their midst whose right breast was slashed off. “There was
another girl whose natural hair was pulled off her head forcefully. When
we got to a safe village we had to beg for transport money to come to
Maiduguri. We were afraid but necessity for safety compelled us to go
through the mountain. Even while on the mountain we could see huge smoke
ascending from our village. Up till now everybody is looking for their
loved ones”, she said.
Rifkatu, who said she was still
suffering from the trauma, stated those who have been buried so far were
the privileged men whose wives were alive and courageous enough to
withstand the extreme sorrowful atmosphere due to the number of death
toll, blood spillage and the offensive odour emanating from the bust
corpses yet to be buried. At present, she is yet to know the whereabouts
of her parents.
A building razed by insurgents on Damboa Road, Borno
Maryamu Yakubu, Stella Yakubu’s mother
whose father was killed in Attagara by the insurgents, told BDSUNDAY
that she has not been able to eat properly since she received the news
of her father’s death. She posited that the losses; both human and
materials were irreparable as far as the attack was concern.
“They killed my dad and carried
everything that we have laboured to send them. I am very sad as a mother
and a daughter! It was just God that helped my daughter; otherwise she
would not have been able to climb that kind of mountain. It is very hard
to tell whether it is government fighting us or Boko Haram because
everything they use belongs to government”, she said.
A dangerous journey to Attagara
The only alternative escape route that
was available to Rifkatu and her team was not a journey to be desired.
But the young girls were left with no other choice since they desired to
stay alive. With the insurgents having blocked all the major road, they
embarked on the journey.
Our Correspondent attempted going to
Attagara through Chibok from Askira near the Sambisa forest, the now
famous Headquarters of Boko Haram terrorists, to connect Uba village, to
another village (shuwa) in the same region.
On the roads leading to Madagali, there
are a lot of military checkpoints but the people in this region are
aware that the insurgents’ base was very close. The tension in the area
was indeed a frightening one in spite of the presence of the Military.
Though Gulak was another highly nervous
community, it can however be regarded as ‘paradise’ when compared to the
unseen but yet gripping, evil-like atmosphere in Gwoza coming through
the village hosting the Nigerian Mopol Training Camp. Gwoza is the main
place that is very suspicious. The insurgents are believed to be hiding
somewhere in the bush there.
The sight of many houses that have been
burnt in Gwoza was enough evidence the hamlet was a danger zone. Several
buildings standing horribly like human bodies without heads.
Though not celebrated, the bravery of
these residents was second to none. At almost every checkpoint, drivers
and their passengers are asked to tender their identity card. Sometimes
passengers are asked to get down from the cab and walk through! Everyone
is a suspect!
When our Correspondent arrived at Gwoza
roundabout to connect the foot of the mountain, it was already 5pm. It
was through this mountain ranges called Gudus that Rifkatu and her team
had escaped through on foot.
As one climbs up the mountains, the path
is strewn with rocks. It was a difficult mountain to climb coming in
contact with Monkeys and Baboons. All the settlements showed signs of
people abandoning their homes; only few were wandering in the
valley.
While approaching Attagara at about 7:45
pm, our Correspondent and his guide had to run for cover with residents
who were scouting for information regarding the whereabouts of the
outlawed group.
The sound of gunshot being fired in the
village could be heard from a distance. Unfortunately, the phone’s torch
light went off here. Moving closer to fleeing residents who later
granted interviews, one could not but admit something terrible was
polluting the air due to the offensive odour emanating from the village.
A surviving leader from Attagara who
wished to remain anonymous for fear of later victimization, told BD
SUNDAY in Ashigashiya that, his village, was a Christian Community with
different denominations of churches. “It has UIN which has its own
divisional Headquarters in Attagara for quite a while. It has National
Evangelical Mission and the Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG) is
also there. Attagara was the first village to be attacked by the
insurgents when they left Maiduguri. In that incident, four people were
killed and churches burnt down”, he said.
He said the vulnerability of Attagara
village is due to its closeness to Sambisa forest, the widely known base
of the Boko Haram insurgents.
He said “Sambisa forest is in the
western part of Mondara Mountain while Attagara is in the eastern part
of the same mountain. The Nigeria Mopol Training Camp is there in Gwoza;
which is the western part of the mountain. It is closerto Sambisa
forest. How did the insurgent manage to cross this mountain where we
have the Mopol Training Camp and attack villages? The insurgents move
about freely without any challenge from the authority; planting flags
everywhere, implying that they have taken over the territory. Nigeria
still exists as a nation and allowing group of terrorists to hoist its
own flag.
“This is worst than a treason”, he said.
“I was among the men stationed in churches and the only primary school
in Attagara. We didn’t want to be taken by surprise. The wisdom was
that, the Boko Haram elements may come back and attack these
institutions while we hold meeting
with the soldiers. So, we decided to remain in our posts for security
reasons; unknown to us these were our very enemy. It was only the swift
and lucky ones among us who were able to flee to the mountain.
“The state government is yet to visit
Attagara since this genocide attempt. They said they would turn the
churches into mosques. Nigerians seems to be confused about the aim of
Boko Haram. They are very clear and have said it repeatedly that they
want to Islamize Nigeria. The Nigerian government is pretending that
they don’t know what Boko Haram wants; they have told them that they
want Islamic Republic, simple. As far as we are concerned we do not
trust the Military and the government because it is either they are the
ones attacking us, or they are supporting the insurgents against us, or
better still, the Military hired their equipments and personnel to the
insurgents to carry out the dirty job. The level of sophistication was
so high that the whole villagers believed the Military had a hand in the
attack. Only the government
can have that kind of equipments. The next day after the attack they
confiscated many national dailies in order to keep Nigerians from the
truth.”
According to our source, “everybody
including the Military knows where Boko Haram’s base is; why can’t the
Military go there and fight? What are they waiting for? Many local
people are even ready to fight the insurgents and die rescuing their
daughters but the Nigerian government has refused to act. Our dead have
not been mourned and given befitting burial because the insurgents are
still in charge of the place weeks after the massacre. If the government
is sincere it must rebuild Attagara; rebuild all the houses and
churches that have been destroyed by the insurgents and compensate each
family for the wealth they have lost because the Military promised to
come to us. Not the lives we have lost because no one can repay that”,
he said.
John Ali, another fleeing resident, told
BD SUNDAY in Goshe, a village sharing boundary with Attagara that
Government (state and federal) have closed ears to the cries of the
people and watch Boko Haram massacre citizens in the boundary areas
mercilessly.
He said “Help us expose to the world
what is going on here. We are fortunate to meet journalist like you
courageous enough to come here. We taught our issue was over. Government
should wake up to its responsibility. There should be Military presence
in that place; not check points that is stationed somewhere far from
the crime scene. Since Borno state is at the moment under State of
Emergency, the Military should have a base in Attagara so as to
encourage residents who have fled to come back and bury their dead. We
don’t know where we belong; Cameroon has refused to accept us, Nigerian
governments have refused to come to our rescue”, he said.
One of the residents who dwell in the
mountain, Maryaum Yakubu, told BD SUNDAY that, the fear was that, even
if security operatives go to the mountain in the name of rescuing the
fleeing residents of Attagara, the villagers are still afraid the
Military may end up killing them because many of them still believe
strongly it was Military officials who carried out the attack.
“I live in this part of the mountain and
I have hid some people who were fleeing. Instead of coming to protect
us they may end up killing us again because the people who came to kill
hundreds of people in Attagara where in soldiers’ uniform, helmets and
vehicles! You cannot distinguish between soldiers and Boko Haram these
days. The soldiers can come here, kill and claim we are Boko Haram; but
when they see Boko Haram they will run for cover.
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