Published on Sunday, 27 October 2013 05:01 Written by - TopicsExpress

Published on Sunday, 27 October 2013 05:01 Written by Ibrahim Sawab, Maiduguri with agency reports Hits: 53 Medical Doctors, Engineers, Other Professionals in Our Ranks’ . Yobe Residents Still in the Bush 72 Hours After Attacks Extremists from neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon are fighting in Nigeria’s northeastern uprising, according to a man presented by military authorities as a captured member of the Boko Haram terrorist network. His account tallies with reports from politicians and survivors of attacks, and it reinforces fears that Boko Haram, once a machete-wielding gang, now poses the greatest security threat to Nigeria’s unity. It comes the same week Justice Minister Mohammed Adoke charged that Boko Haram is being influenced from abroad. “Nigeria is experiencing the impact of externally-induced internal security challenges, manifesting in the activities of militant insurgents and organized crime groups which has led to the violation of the human rights of many Nigerians,” he said, defending the country’s record at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. An Associated Press report last week, based on mortuary records from Maiduguri’s main hospital, supported Amnesty International charges that hundreds of detainees are dying in military detention, many taken out of their cells and shot. The government has failed to respond to requests for comment. The confession came about 48 hours after multiple attacks attacks by suspected Boko Haram members in neighbouring Yobe State had left dozens of security forces, civilians and insurgents death, following which a 24-hour curfew was imposed in the state. Insurgents had reportedly targeted headquarters of the 233 Battalion in Yobe, as well as the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) office, police area command office and a Mobile Police base. This is as military authorities in Maiduguri said 74 insurgents had been killed Friday in ground and air offensives. “The operation, which involved ground and aerial assaults by the Nigerian Air Force led to the destruction of the identified terrorist camps, killing of 74 terrorists while others fled with serious injuries,” the spokesperson of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt Col Muhammad Dole, said in a statement issued in Maiduguri on Friday. Sunday Trust gathered that many civilians, who fled fighting on Thursday in Damaturu, were still taking refuge inside bushes and were afraid of returning to their homes fears possible fresh attacks on Saturday. Recently, suspected Boko Haram fighters have raided schools dormitories in the area and killed students, in addition to attacking travelers plying roads in the region. AP reported that parading the suspect on Friday by the military was the first time an alleged Boko Haram detainee was being presented to journalists at a news conference in the northern city of Maiduguri. The member made the revelations at the Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri, while being paraded by the acting Brigade Commander, Col. Aliyu Yusuf. The 22-year-old, walking on crutches because of a bullet wound suffered when he was captured in a recent attack, said he was forced to join Boko Haram but that the movement has many willing and educated members. “We have qualified doctors who are active members. They were not forced to be in the group, they are more elderly than us,” the 22-year-old told reporters at a news conference Friday night in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital that is the birthplace of Boko Haram. “We have mechanics, we have welders, we have carpenters, we have professional drivers, we have butchers, security experts, gun instructors and so on,” he said, displaying his lack of education by his poor use of Hausa. He refused to give his name because he was afraid his former colleagues would target his family. The young man shed an interesting light on life as a Nigerian warrior, saying religion had little to do with it and that his leaders “had never once preached Islam to us.” He said the name of Allah was invoked only when “we are running out of food supply in the bush. Our leaders will assemble us and declare that we would be embarking on a mission for God and Islam. “I did not see any act of religion in there. We are just killing people, stealing and suffering in the bush,” he added. The movement has been blamed for the killings of hundreds of civilians, mainly Muslims, in recent months. The prisoner, who wore military fatigue pants exactly like those of his captors — many recent Boko Haram attacks have been perpetrated by fighters wearing Nigerian Army uniforms — said foreigners fight in his group of 150, but did not say how many. “We have no members from Mali or Libya that I know of ... But we do have members from Chad, Niger and Cameroon who actively participate in most of our attacks.” He said he and many other fighters would like to surrender, but are scared to do so. “Each time they declare an attack, I feel sick and terrified, so were most of my younger colleagues, but we dare not resist our leaders: They are deadly, our punishment for betrayal is slaughtering of our necks.” According to him, Boko Haram had moved on from targeting security forces and politicians to attacks on soft targets such as school students, villagers and travelers because of the formation of vigilante groups “who now reveal our identities and even arrest us.” He said life for the sect members in their training camps in Sambisa Forests was a ‘hell’. “And had been so because of the fears we were facing, it was like we were having a date with death,” he said. The detainee, who was allowed to recount his ordeal to newsmen by military authorities, said he was forced into the sect by his brother who used to hide guns in their residence. Meanwhile, Col. Yusuf said the military was ready to welcome any Boko Haram fighter that will lay down his arms and embrace the federal government’s amnesty offer. “Once you come out, we will treat you as a captured member, we all know the intention of government to see an end to this crisis,” he said.