By Dr. Pogu Bitrus (of Chibok), Rev. Ibrahim Dauwa (of Gwoza) and Rev. James Yaga, JP
Against the background of denials by high-ranking functionaries of
the Muslim establishment in Nigeria that the Boko Haram insurgency is
not a Muslim agenda, we owe it to ourselves and the world to set the
record straight. In 2012, in a widely publicized video recording that is
easily accessible on the internet, Abubakar Shekau, the late erstwhile
leader of Boko Haram announced the mission statement of his sect. Among
other things, he said “this war is not political. It is religious. It is
between Muslims and unbelievers (arna). It will stop when Islamic
religion is the determinant in governance in Nigeria or, in the
alternative, when all fighters are annihilated and no one is left to
continue the fight. I warn all Muslims at this juncture that any Muslim
who assists an unbeliever in this war should consider himself dead.”
This mission statement explains why Muslim communities have been
viciously attacked for having within them persons who served as
informants to the authorities. While we appreciate the concern of
well-meaning persons in Nigeria and world-wide over the fate of more
than three hundred female students abducted from Government Secondary
School in Chibok, Borno State, by the Boko Haram sect we want to draw
the attention of the world to the fact that the abduction saga has
become a distraction that has left our communities to free-pillaging and
rampaging by Boko Haram.
These are the facts that happened in the past four weeks:
In Ataggara, Southern Senatorial Zone of Borno State, Boko Haram
attacked and were repelled by the community. Community leaders went to
Pulka, where a military formation exists, to report the attack and were
assured that a unit would be drafted to the town to protect the people.
The following day some people appeared in Nigeria Army issue in nine
armoured personnel carriers bearing the colours and insignia of the
Nigerian Army. They announced to the villagers that they had come to
assess the security situation. When the people gathered to hear them,
the men that came in armoured personnel carriers, and in Army uniform,
opened fire and killed over two hundred and fifty men, women and
children. Those who were able to take to their heels were pursued by the
marauders into the bush and when they were caught up with, were either
butchered with knives or shot to death. The survivors have taken refuge
in Cameroun, or in friendly communities;
In Bokko Wizhe, four people died when Boko Haram terrorists opened
fire indiscriminately in the predominantly Christian community. About
two thousand survivors have fled to Cameroun and neighbouring states;
In Bokko Timta, about 1,500 Christians had to flee to Cameroun and
other states in Nigeria after Boko Haram attacked their community;
In Kugyly, about 2,500 fled the village to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria after they were visited by Boko Haram;
In Ngoshe, 46 persons were killed by Boko Haram and more than 3,000
had to flee to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria. None of the houses
and churches in the community escaped being torched;
In Gava, 26 persons were killed by Boko Haram. About 2,000 people
fled to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria. All the houses and
churches were burnt down;
In Amuda, 17 persons were murdered by Boko Haram and more than four
thousand people fled to other places. The Village Head is, at present
taking refuge in Nasarawa State;
In Halaghwa after an undetermined number of persons were killed by
Boko Haram, about 500 persons from the community fled to Cameroun and
another 2,000 fled to other states in Nigeria;
In Agapalawa, 15 persons were killed by Boko Haram and more than 4,000 had to flee to Cameroun;
In Ganjara, 46 persons were killed by Boko Haram and more than 2,500 fled to Cameroun;
In Jibrili, an undetermined number of people were killed by Boko
Haram and Christian houses and churches burnt to the ground. The remnant
of the people have fled to Cameroun;
In Zamgba, Boko Haram attacked and killed 13 people, and about 1,700 were forced to flee to Cameroun;
In Ashigashita, Boko Haram attacked and killed 10 people. The remnant of the community fled to Cameroun;
In Vale, Christians were completely chased out. Their belongings were looted by Boko Haram and their sympathizers;
In Kwadale, an undetermined number of persons were killed by Boko Haram and about 2,000 fled to Cameroun;
In Pulka, 30 persons were killed by Boko Haram, including the
Village Head Mallam Ali Pulka. Many members of the community have fled
to Cameroun leaving about 4,500;
In Kirawa, all the Christians fled to Cameroun after the village was taken over by Boko Haram;
In Chinene, Boko Haram killed 14 persons, more than 500 fled to
Cameroun, about 1,000 fled to other states in Nigeria, while about 1,000
are still in the mountains as all motorable roads have been blocked by
the sect;
In Arboko, more than 10 persons were killed by Boko Haram, all
houses and churches razed to the ground, and about 2,000 have fled to
Cameroun;
In Chikide, 2 persons were killed by Boko Haram, and about 1,500 have fled to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria;
In Barawa, more than 20 persons were killed by Boko Haram, and the
community’s houses and churches burnt down. Survivors have fled to
Cameroun, other states and the hills;
In Pege, Boko Haram killed five persons by Boko Haram, and about
1,000 members of the community have fled to Cameroun and other states in
Nigeria;
In Kaghum, Boko Haram killed more than 20 persons by Boko Haram, and
more than 3,000 members of the community have been forced to flee to
Cameroun, other states in Nigeria and the hills;
In Angurva, an undetermined number of persons were killed by Boko Haram, and some 4,000 persons have fled to Cameroun;
In Baladigavuraza, Boko Haram killed 3 persons, about 2,000 persons
fled to Cameroun and another 500 fled to other states in Nigeria;
In Kunde, some 7 persons were killed and the community’s houses and churches burnt. About 2,500 fled to Cameroun and the hills;
In the past fourteen days the following communities in Damboa Local
Government area have been over-run by Boko Haram: Kwapchi; Shawa; Daku;
Kwamjilari; Blakat 1; Blakat 2; Blakat 3; Mulgwe 1; Mulgwe 2; Mulgwe 3;
Katsalabulari; Kulali 1; Kulali 2; Kuburuvhu; Kautivha; Izghe 1; Izghe
2; Izghe 3; Kaya 1; Kaya 2; Konchi;
Mbulakuduga (Alagamo) in Askira Uba Local Government Area was over-run within the same time frame;
Takulashi of Chibok Local Government Area was also over-run in the past few days.
In all the communities it has over-run, Boko Haram has removed the
Nigerian national flag and hoisted its own flag, the flag of jihad.
We want to place on record that all the communities mentioned above
are predominantly Christian. Why are we being attacked now? The answer
lies in the result of the 2011 Presidential Election. It is on record
that the Middle Belt, which the Southern Borno State Senatorial Zone is a
bona fide part of, voted massively for President Goodluck Jonathan; a
fact that enabled the sitting President to succeed at the polls in 2011.
Going towards 2015, Boko Haram, on behalf of the oligarchic North,
wants to decimate and displace our communities so that we would be less
of a factor. Why is President Jonathan not instructing the military ro
protect our communities? We are aware that the the Nigerian military is a
deeply divided fighting force.
As the Ataggara case above illustrates, when some Muslim commanding
officers and others receive reports from our communities, they pass such
reports to Boko Haram who come in Nigerian Army issue uniforms to
perpetrate pogroms in our communities.
Boko Haram has many atrociously wealthy sponsors on account of the
fact that successive governments in Nigeria have always patronized
Muslims to our exclusion. It is primitive capital that those Muslims
have accumulated from the Nigerian state that they are deploying to
decimate our populations. Our most profound prayer to President
Jonathan, which we want other Nigerians and the international community
to pressurize him to accede to, is that he should arm our communities.
if we have access to arms and ammunition like Boko Haram, we would have a
sporting chance of defending our lives, dependants and property. We
would not run away from Boko Haram. Our President should please do this
in good time before it is too late. We have a right to live in peace in
our communities and to vote our choice without any fear, however we
choose to do so in electoral contests in our country. That is an
irreducible minimum for every citizen.
As communities in the defunct Northern Region we are not unaware of
the inspiration of Boko Haram and their sponsors. It is no news that the
average Northern Muslim thinks that Nigeria is his to dominate, and its
riches his to dispense. In October 1960, the late Premier of the
defunct Northern Region and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, had
declared:
“The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our
great-grandfather, Uthman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change
of power. We use the minorities of the North as willing tools and the
South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us, and
never allow them to have control over their future.” (Parrot Newspaper, 12th Oct. 1960; republished on November 13, 2002, by the Tribune Newspaper, Ibadan.);
Before the late Sardauna made this very revealing statement, the
Conference of Northern Chiefs, in response to a letter from the UK-based
West African Students’ Union (WASU) to the Northern emirs asking them
to support the constitutional evolution of Nigeria into an independent
nation, had declared “holding this country together is not possible
except by means of the religion of the Prophet. If they want political
unity let them follow our religion.” (Obafemi Awolowo, Path to Nigerian
Freedom, London: Faber and Faber, 1947, p.51.);
We recall that the Fulani Jihad failed woefully to Islamize our
people in the 19th Century. We also recall that the Kanuri, who had been
practising Islam for more than eight centuries before the Fulani Jihad,
could not Islamize our people. Boko Haram seeks to succeed where their
more illustrious ancestors failed.
If the Federal Government of Nigeria would not arm our communities to
defend ourselves, the least it can do is not to stand in the way of
other Nigerians and members of the international community who are so
inclined to help arm our communities. Boko Haram, as its mission
statement as espoused by the late Abubakar Shekau states, the only time
it would be mollified is “….when Islamic religion is the determinant in
governance in Nigeria or, in the alternative, when all fighters are
annihilated and no one is left to continue the fight.”
Our people refuse to be forcibly Islamized. We, also, insist on
making our own free choices. It is our belief that it is only on the
basis of mutual respect that nations can be built. We would like to
contribute our quota to building the Nigerian Federation into a nation
and call on others to follow our peaceful path. But if the forces of
evil insist on pursuing their present murderous course, our people will
be forced to respond in kind and to meet force with force. The present
path of violence by Boko Haram can only lead to destruction, Boko
Haram’s destruction as well as others.
There’s now a substantiated theory about what created the crater. And the news isn’t so good.
There were reports that Boko Haram 'Chief Butcher' Zakari Mohammed
(pictured above) who was arrested a while back had escaped from police
custody but the Nigerian police force have denied this.
