Unabated Killings, As Insurgents Ignore Ramadan In this holy month of Ramadan, when the Muslims worldwide are observing a season of peace, love, forgiveness and sharing, many people expected Boko Haram to sheathe its swords, but the group has continued to unleash mayhem on innocent Nigerians. Kareem Haruna, Maiduguri, writes Though it can be quite unpredictable when and where Boko Haram’s next attack could be, the terrorists group however last week staged several attacks in Borno State that really broke the hearts of many people who anticipated an halt in the ongoing attacks as the Islamic holy month of lent started Ramadan, the Muslims’ 30 days of annual fasting, is widely recognised as a period when Muslims worldwide engage in all forms of rewarding activities, including the sharing of love and kindness. But to the chagrin of many in Borno State, the Boko Haram sect, which prides itself as a body that is bent on enshrining Sharia rule as a system of government in Nigeria, has continued to mete out terror on both Muslims and Christians, even in this month of Ramadan. Against the general public’s prolepsis that the Boko Haram sect would at least take a break during the ongoing month of Ramadan, more bestial attacks have been carried out during the dawning days of the holy month. LEADERSHIP Sunday can authoritatively report that over 200 persons have so far been killed, while hundreds of others were badly injured in attacks credited to the sect in the first week of the month of Ramadan. Apart from pockets of isolated killings that the terrorists’ organisation had carried out on the eve and even the first day of Ramadan, where hapless villagers were attacked and killed, Boko Haram gunmen had staged terrible attacks on churches in two communities of Chibok local government area where over a hundred persons were killed. On June 29, 2014, in Chibok local government area, where over 200 schoolgirls that are currently in captivity of the Boko Haram sect were abducted, the area witnessed yet another dark day in their beleaguered experience in the last three months as gunmen moved a battalion size armed terrorists to overrun communities in the area. The gunmen took their time, allowing the villagers of Kwada and Kautikari communities, 10 kilometres from Chibok town, to commence their church services before storming the neighbourhood and turned their rifles against them, while detonating their explosives in the churches. Eyewitnesses quoted in several news media testified that the gunmen who first attacked Kwada village at about 8:00am surrounded the three churches and ordered every child and female worshiper out before opening fire on the elderly and young men inside. Major churches like the EYN Church, the COCIN Church and the Deeper Life Bible Church suffered heavy casualties, while scores of villagers’ corpses were later picked in the bush as the gunmen chased the fleeing villagers and shot them in the bushes. “They killed 48 people in the attacked churches, who died on the spot; apart from several others that got killed in the bush,” said Abbas Gava, a member of the vigilante group who lost eight of his in-laws during the attack. From Kwada, the gunmen proceeded to Kautikari village, some two kilometres away and carried out similar attacks on the villagers. A vigilante member, who pleaded anonymity for his personal safety, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that, “We have so far recovered more than a hundred corpses, but we got more of them from the EYN Church where the Boko Haram gunmen first attacked in Kawada.” Throughout the attacks that lasted over four hours, it was gathered that the attackers were not confronted by any security operatives. It was alleged that the airforce jet that eventually came hovering over the attacked communities only arrived hours after the gunmen had left in a convoy of pickup vans and motorcycles. The vigilante members lamented that they were not impressed with the response of the soldiers in Chibok, whom he alleged got an earlier alert about the attack but shied away from direct confrontation with the attackers. “We are disappointed with the soldiers. When we heard about the attack in Kwada, we raised alarm and informed the soldiers,” they alleged, continuing that, “The gunmen finished with Kwada and proceeded to Kautikari, where they attacked people there until 11:30am when they finally left. We cannot say how many people were killed in Kwada yet.” A police officer, who does not want his name mentioned, confirmed to journalists in Maiduguri that he was informed that his younger brother had been killed during the attack in Kwada. “I was attending church service in Maiduguri when I began to receive several calls on my phone. So, I had to excuse myself to receive the call, since it was coming from the village. It was then I was informed that my younger brother had been killed in the church during the attack,” the police officer said amid tears. Barely 48 hours after the Chibok massacre, the Boko Haram terrorists took their deadly attacks into the city of Maiduguri where a suicide bomber detonated a heavily-wired vehicle near the Maiduguri main market in the early morning hours when traders and commuters were busy trying to resume their business activities. It was confirmed that at least 56 people were killed and 69 others sustained different degrees of injury after the blast. Some eyewitnesses at the scene of the blast said the suicide bomber who carried out the heinous act was spotted driving a rickety Peugeot station-wagon car from Gwange area, a crowded central part of Maiduguri, towards the market at about 8:00am. A member of the popular Civilian-JTF, who simply identified himself as Musa, said, “If I had an inkling that the man had an evil intention, I would have pulled him out of the car and dealt with him. “I was on a tricycle moving towards the market when I noticed the man trying to park by the roadside, and the early rising traders who were displaying their groceries by the roadside kept telling him to move ahead, that he was not supposed to park in front of their displayed wares. “We all managed to overtake him while he was still busy trying to get a parking space. His vehicle’s trunk was filled with sacks of what looked like charcoal. It was when we were a little ahead of him that we heard the deafening noise of the explosion, and everywhere became darkened with thick smoke,” said Musa. LEADERSHIP Sunday further learnt that the suicide bomber had later parked in front of the old El-Kanemi Cinema, which is now converted to carpark for intercity buses and taxis. Most of those that fell victims of the blast were old women who usually sold groundnuts and lemons, as well as commuters trying to make their ways to their different destinations, and labourers waiting to off-load goods from their trucks which had been parked at the market overnight. “We have been able to pick 21 dead bodies that could still be identified. We also picked about 35 corpses that were either burnt or mangled beyond recognition. We took 19 injured persons to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, five others were rushed to the State Specialists Hospital and 21 were conveyed to the Nursing Home, while nine were taken to Umaru Shehu UItra-modern Hospital,” said Gava. Hospital workers in both the State Specialists Hospital and the Umaru Shehu Ultra Modern Hospital as well as the federal government-owned University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) have all confided with journalists that the number officially quoted was less than the quantum of corpses deposited in their respective morgues after the massive blast. “We were warned not to make public the actual number of corpses brought to our hospital from the scene of the blast, so that it will not create further tension,” alleged a health worker in one of the three hospitals in the state. The manner with which the Maiduguri bomb blast was executed had really sent chills down the spines of many residents who now live in further fears that the Boko Haram members could easily carry out another massive attack in no distant time, if measures are not taken to curtail their activities. A lucky survivor who saw it all said, “We all saw the car, even though some people were not even comfortable with its presence. Suddenly, the suicide bomber who was trying to pack at some spots but was repeatedly asked to move ahead by the traders trying to display their wares, later ran his car on the back of a Keke-NAPEP (commercial tricycle), and then the driver engaged in argument with the Keke-NAPEP driver and some traders who found him at fault. “The bomber later accepted being at fault and agreed to move his car from the middle of the road. So, he begged bystanders to help him push his old car filled with bags of charcoal off the middle of the road. It was then he decided to let the bomb went off, and himself and those pushing the vehicle were shredded by the blast,” said the witness. On Thursday morning, two vehicles conveying Ramadan rice and sugar to Gamboru-Ngala local government area, where it was meant to be distributed to locals there, were attacked by Boko Haram gunmen riding on motorcycles. “Two of the saloon cars (Volkswagen Golf brands) that were moving in convoy were shot at, both somersaulted and the gunmen went over to kill three persons in the attacked cars. They later used another truck to cart away the bags of rice and sugar to unknown destination,” said a security officer who pleaded anonymity. “A police officer driving alongside his colleagues from Mafa town, about 40 kilometres away, to Maiduguri had survived death by the whisker when Boko Haram gunmen attempting to ambush them on Wednesday shot at their vehicle, while a bullet narrowly missed his jugular,” he said. Many residents of Maiduguri who witnessed the scene of the blast were left traumatised; some are now living in fear for their lives, especially in market places where, because of the Ramadan fasting, many people go to do their shopping. Baba Musa Yobe, a trader at the Maiduguri Monday Market where the blast occurred, said, “We have been visited with a calamity that we don’t know when God will extricate us from. Everyone thought, at least, the killings would subside as we commence Ramadan, and that if the Boko Haram people insist they are Muslims, they would not have been killing their fellow human beings in this holy month of forgiveness, blessing and charity.”
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 10:06:21 +0000
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