LIFE IN BOKO HARAM CAMPS, BY FEMALE EX-CAPTIVES

Many women and girls have been abducted by the Boko Haram sect in the past four years in Borno State, but this only attracted public attention after the abduction of more than 200 girls from the Government Secondary School Chibok on April 14.

Few victims of such abduction are willing to speak on their experiences after regaining freedom, findings show.
But Daily Trust gathered that the captives have been used as sex slaves, cooks and nurses. They also do the laundry of the sect members.

There have been many cases of abduction in Maiduguri, Bama, Konduga, Damboa, Gwoza, Marte and Mallam Fatori, but most abductees who managed to escape are reluctant to tell their stories, neither are their families. Only a few or those close to them spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of stigmatisation as the major reason when our correspondents approached them.

Many women and men, especially from the wealthy class, that were abducted regained freedom after their families paid ransom. Such people also prefer to remain silent after release.
The wife of a prominent politician and a businessman from Damboa was abducted and released the next day. The father of a serving commissioner in Borno State was also abducted and released many days after. Many of such families insist that nothing was paid before those abducted regained freedom. Sources said such families are apparently complying with the warning from their abductors to keep quiet.

Checks in Abbaganaram, Budum, Kofa Biyu, Ruwan Zafi and Gwange in Maiduguri metropolis reveal that many women have been abducted in the past three years. It was gathered from relations and competent sources that some have returned home while many others have become ‘war brides’ in the hands of their abductors. A 44 year old divorcee who lives around Muna General Area in Maiduguri said she was held for 17 days and was subjected to untold experiences, including rape by young boys that are of the same age with her son.

“I was severally raped by boys that were not more than 18 years,” she said. She said prior to the rout of Boko Haram insurgents from Maiduguri in mid 2013, four gunmen in a Golf car entered her house, took away her jewelleries and whisked her away.

“They took me to an unknown destination which I later found out to be Bulabulin-Ngrannam. The most painful part of the abduction is that throughout my stay in captivity, I was raped by boys that are as young as my first son who was 18 years old then. They (Boko Haram) learnt that I trade in gold. As such, while in their enclave, the boys would come over every morning, look at me with disdain and said I accumulated a lot of money but was not willing to give sadaqa (alms). They would then forcefully have sex with me,” she said.

She said after 17 days she was released but did not explain how. “I left many women there and I don’t know if they have been released or not,” she said.
A relative of another girl who was kidnapped in Bama in January this year said she was later dumped by her captors when she took ill.
“When she got missing for over two months, she was one day found by the roadside along Bama-Damboa road and taken to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). She was diagnosed with spinal cord injury and we learnt that she was mercilessly raped and that caused the complications,” he said.

In May, 2013, shortly after the Boko Haram insurgents were driven from their camps in Marte LGA, some parents in Kanamma, the headquarters of the council, told our correspondent that their daughters were seized by the insurgents and many did not return.
A parent said, “The insurgents really had a field day here after chasing away security operatives for months. One of the insurgents approached me saying he wanted the hands of my daughter in marriage. A few days after, he returned with some of his friends and directed that the wedding Fatiha must be conducted that same day. He offered N2, 000 as dowry…that was all and they went away with my daughter”.

A parent in Gwange ward in Maiduguri whose daughter was taken and later released said he preferred not to talk. “I feel allowing her talk is like exposing her identity…what has happened has happened. Would you marry her if I allow you talk to her?” he asked.
Many parents in Maiduguri share the same view. To them, narrating their ordeals will only satisfy the curiosity of journalists and not heal the wounds of victims.
Source: Daily Trust

Man flogs 16-year-old son to death in Lagos

The Lagos State Police command has arrested a father, identified simply as Benson, for allegedly flogging his son to death with a belt.

It was gathered that Benson, an indigene of Ishan in Edo State, allegedly beat up Bright, his 16-year-old son, to death after the teenager was accused of stealing N1,200.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Benson, who had divorced his wife, was living on Olanrewaju Street, Oregun, Ikeja, with his two sons – Bright and Samuel, 14 years – when the incident happened.
Samuel told our correspondent that on Sunday evening, his father beat up his elder brother in anger because of the accusation against him. He added that Bright had been ill before the beating.

He said, “Bright has been sick for some days before that Sunday. Initially in the morning, Dad was looking for Bright, but could not find him. Later in the evening, Bright showed up with some boys on our street who told our father that Bright had stolen N1,200 from them.

“Truly, dad found the money in his pocket, but I think he stole it because he was hungry that day.
“My father was very angry on discovering the money in Bright’s pocket. He returned the money to the owners, and after they left, tied Bright’s hands with a rope. He then began to beat him with the iron end of his belt.”

Samuel noted that his father, who suffered from partial blindness, must have unintentionally hit Bright, who was still battling with a sickness, in the wrong place.
“I think it was the anger that made my daddy to make that mistake. The reason is because as soon as he did not hear Bright’s cries again, dad stopped beating him, carried him on his shoulders and rushed him to a private hospital near our house. But he was said to be dead when we got to the hospital,” he added.

However, Benson’s neighbours told our correspondent that the man, despite his eyes’ problem, had the habit of beating his children with any object.
One of the neighbours, who identified herself simply as Oluwaseun, explained that the man began beating the boy around 9pm, adding that Bright’s pleas for mercy fell on the dad’s deaf ears.
She said, “The man is simply a wicked man. He does not relate with people. The boy he killed usually takes him to church every Sunday because of his eyes’ problem. So, on that Sunday, he could have become angry that the boy left home and refused to take him to church.”
Another resident on the street, who craved anonymity, said Benson had a history of violence in the area.

“I was living in the house before. On one occasion when we were still living together, we had a small disagreement over where to spread clothes in the backyard of the house. The next thing was that Benson got a cutlass and chased me. I narrowly escaped from him that day. That was one of the reasons I moved out of that place,” he said.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Bright’s remains had been deposited at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja mortuary for autopsy.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed that the case was under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba
Source: PUNCH

Boko Haram Terrorists kill 51, injure 12, raze village in Borno attacks

MAIDUGURI— Boko Haram Islamist sect, yesterday, killed 51 persons and injured 12 others in separate attacks in Borno State.
In one of the attacks on Gurmushi village in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State, the terrorists killed 42 persons and set the entire village ablaze, leaving many of the villagers displaced and taking refuge in Cameroon.

Marte is a border community with Chad and Cameroon, which had witnessed deadly attacks in recent times, including the military offensive on some terrorists camps along the Lake Chad Basin, where many of the terrorists were killed last year.
Marte is north and about 160 kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Residents’ accounts
A resident, Mallam Abacha Umar, said: “Gunmen, suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists, invaded our village (Gurmushi) killing over 40 people, while 12 others sustained injuries. They also set the village on fire.”
Another resident, who does not want his name in print, told newsmen on phone that the gunmen stormed the village in the early hours of yesterday and started shooting sporadically, killing dozens of people and setting houses ablaze.
He said: “I counted over 40 corpses, while the village was razed down completely and most of us ran into the bush for safety.”

Another resident, who spoke to the BBC Hausa Service monitored in Maiduguri by 3p.m. yesterday, said she fled from the village to neighbouring Cameroon, adding that 42 people were killed, while the 12 injured people were receiving treatment at a Cameroonian hospital close to the border.
She said they had all fled the village to Cameroon for fear of another attack from the Boko Haram terrorists as, according to her, they have intensified their attacks in the area in recent times.
Efforts to get the spokesman of 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Col Muhammed Dole and Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jibrin, for confirmation did not yield any result as their phones were switched off at press time.
The terrorists also carried out another attack yesterday morning on Amuda and Arbokko border villages killing nine people, before torching dozens of houses and shops.

The invasion
Boko Haram members were said to have stormed the villages in Toyota Hilux vehicles, motorcycles and an Armoured Personnel Carrier.
This is coming barely few hours after Cameroon deployed about 1,000 troops to border communities in North-Eastern Nigeria.
The two border villages are about 128 kilometres South-East of Maiduguri, the state capital.
Eyewitnesses say the gunmen came through the 16-kilometre Kughum Pulka border road by 2a.m., and stormed the two neigbouring villages, firing gunshots at residents who fled into farmlands and bushes at Mandara mountains.

‘They’re after males’
Pirda Takweshe, a resident of Amuda, who escaped to Pulka yesterday said: “I cannot imagine how I escaped last night’s attack.
“It was God that saved my life; otherwise I would have been shot dead in my burnt house.
“The gunmen are after male who try to challenge them in what they claimed to be ‘work of God’.
“Two of my neighbours were shot in the back and leg, while they were fleeing their houses.”
Another eyewitness from Arbokko also told newsmen that most of the villagers fled into the hill, but that some were shot dead as they attempted to prevent the attackers from razing their houses with petrol bombs and explosives.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin could not be reached for confirmation at press time, but a top security source confirmed the two incidents.

Source: vanguard

Suspected Cultists Kill College Student

Some suspected cult members have killed a final year student of the Michael Otedola College of Education Epe, Lagos, Egwedo Josiah.

The cultists, said to belong to the Eiye Confraternity, reportedly shot the 24-year-old while he was returning to his hostel after buying a pack of noodles.

Our correspondent learnt that the Delta State indigene was killed for allegedly abusing the leader of the gang sometime ago.

It was gathered that on the fateful day, the cultists waylaid him around 8pm.

He was said to have been taken to a dark spot on the campus, while the leader of the gang, one Segun Perry, asked him to open his mouth.

Perry was said to have inserted a locally-made gun into Josiah’s mouth and fired a shot which killed him.

PUNCH Metro learnt that after the Epe Police Division was alerted to the incident, investigations led to the arrest of a student of the institution, 21-year-old Segun Adebayo, and a bricklayer, Azeez Tondunmo.

The suspects were said to have been members of the killer squad of the gang who carried out the operation.

However, the key suspect and leader of the gang, who is on the run, had been declared wanted by the police authorities.

Segun and Adebayo were arraigned before an Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court on three counts of murder and belonging to an unlawful society.

The police prosecutor, Corporal Cyriacus Osuji told the court that the offence was contrary to sections 231, 221 and 42 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

Osuji asked the court to remand the defendants in prison pending the release of legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

He said, “We apply for the remand of the defendants in prison pursuant to Section 264 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011. The defendants, it must be noted, have already confessed to the crime.”

The defence counsel, F.S. Oladele and Imelda Adebambo, objected to the remand application.

The magistrate, E.O. Ogunkanmi, upheld Osuji’s application, adding that the two suspects be remanded in prison for the first 30 days permitted by law while awaiting the outcome of the DPP’s advice.

The matter was adjourned till June 23 for legal advice.

-Punch

JOS SUICIDE BOMBER TARGETED 400 FOOTBALL FANS – SURVIVOR

Over 400 football fans cheated death in the Saturday night bomb blast that rocked Bauchi Road area of Jos, the Plateau State capital. Three people were confirmed dead on the spot in the blast while the fourth died on Sunday morning thus raising the death toll to four

Our correspondent who visited the scene gathered that the lone bomber had targeted a television viewing centre where youths were watching the finals of the EUFA Championship League match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
One of the football lovers at the centre, Muhammed Ibrahim, said over 400 youths were watching the match when the incident happened.

“The viewing centre is large. Television sets were placed at various points and it was crowded and in fact, over 400 of us would have been killed had the bomber succeeded,” he said.
Another witness, Alhaji Garba Ahmad, who said he lost his senior brother, Bello, in the blast, told our correspondent that the bomber had first attempted to enter the viewing centre but was prevented by a barricade erected along the road.

“He then turned back and tried to enter through a garage, but also encountered a wall between the centre and the garage,”Ahmad said.
He added that in frustration, the bomber packed the car, a Honda Odyssey, in front of a house.
Ahmad said, “When we saw the car, unusually packed in front of our house, my brother challenged him. He told my brother that his car had a fault and wanted to repair it. My brother then asked him to take the car away. Sensing something unusual I went inside and asked all the members of our family to leave the house. Just as my brother was persuading the man to leave our premises, he (the bomber) entered the car and immediately he started it. It exploded and killed my brother, his son and his friend.”

It was also gathered that the bomber had gone to the viewing centre earlier in the day.
An official of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Mohammed Suleiman, told our correspondent that the agency received a distress call at about 9 pm on Saturday and immediately rushed to the scene to carry out a search and rescue operation. He said that three people died on the spot, while the body of the fourth person was discovered on Sunday morning.

A member representing Jos North in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Mr. Ibrahim Hasaan, who visited the scene along with the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of Jos North Local Government Area, Dr. Sanda Wakili, said that the recent bombing in an exclusively Muslim enclave was an indication that nobody was safe in the country.
Source: Punch

22-YEAR-OLD MOTHER SELLS OWN BABY FOR N.4MILLION

Twenty-two-year-old Chinelo Huma, who sold her one-month-old baby for N430,000 has been arrested by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Enugu State Police Command.

Three other women, Nkechi Ugochukwu, Maria Asomba and Esther Obi, who allegedly played roles in the sale of the baby were traced to Onitsha, Anambra State and arrested by the police.
Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu who disclosed this, told Sunday Sun that Huma got pregnant while she was engaged in prostitution. Her boyfriend who was not quite ready to bear the responsibility of fatherhood rejected Huma’s pregnancy.

Incidentally, Huma already had two children, who were being cared for by her mother. So having another child out of wedlock was not an idea that appealed to her one bit and she decided to relieve herself of the burden of caring for the baby.

Her words: “I am a prostitute. When I became pregnant and it was close to nine months, my boyfriend rejected it. I decided to sell the baby. When I gave birth on April 13, 2014, one lady whose name is Maria Asomba, arranged for the baby to be sold to Mrs. Nkechi Ugochukwu, and she paid N430, 000, but Asomba gave me N150,000.

“When the police arrested Ugochukwu, I told them I didn’t want the baby again, because I already have two children and my mother is taking care of them.”
Adamu explained that 43-year-old Ugochukwu had for long desired to have a child of her own but was unable to conceive. The arrangement to source the baby was facilitated by one Esther Obi, who nursed the newborn for two weeks before handing her over to Ugochukwu.

The Commissioner of Police further revealed that Asomba, 35, specialized in looking recruiting pregnant ladies that were willing to dispose of their babies after giving birth.
The police learnt about the ignoble act, Adamu said the Head of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, Supol Gloria Udoka (DSP) and her team swung into action and traced the suspects to a jungle in Onitsha, where the one-month old was rescued. The police team also arrested Ugochukwu.
Giving more insight to the sordid affair, the deputy head of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Supol Anyai Dennis (CSP) expressed disgust that even after the baby was recovered, 

Huma insisted she didn’t want to keep the baby.
Supol Dennis added that Ugochukwu was reluctant to hand over the baby as she had led her neighbours to believe she had given birth and would feel a deeply embarrassed, given that she had made arrangements for the baby already named as Chinasa.

Expressing her pain at the turn of events, Ugochukwu lamented: “I have been barren for years and I needed a child. My husband’s kinsmen have been maligning and making jest of me because I don’t have a child. I borrowed N430,000 to buy the child; my husband is aware of the baby. The baby was brought to me on April 17, 2014. When I took the baby to my compound all my neighbours congratulated me over the new baby; policemen came and took the baby from me. I don’t want my money back. I need the baby. I have named the baby Chinasa and I am already planning to dedicate her in church.”

That desire now appears to be a pipe dream as the Commissioner of Police has given a firm assurance that all the suspects would be charged to court soon for human trafficking.
Source: Sun