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These refugee families fled from Mubi when it was attacked by Boko Haram in October and are now living in limbo in Guyuk. (Photo: Our Observer)
The attacks of Islamist group Boko Haram continue in northeastern Nigeria and the government seems unable to stop them. Our Observer returned to his home state and was shocked to see scores of soldiers and refugees and to hear firsthand of the terror experienced by his family and friends.
In October, Boko Haram militants seized Mubi, the second largest city in the northeastern Adamawa state. It was the Islamists’ largest capture to date and they renamed it Madinatul Islam, or City of Islam. An estimated 75% of Mudi’s residents fled, many to either the state capital Yola (to the south) or to Maiduguri, located the north in neighbouring Borno state. Thirty people are thought to have died on site and others were killed or went missing in the bush.
Contributors
Dauda W
‘Mobile phones have saved a lot of people fleeing’
Dauda is a financial advisor who works in Kansas City, USA. In November 2014, he returned to his hometown, Guyuk, for his father’s funeral. Guyuk is a small town of about 10,000 people in Adamawa state, located on the road linking Mubi and Maiduguri. Dauda’s last visit was six months ago, in April 2014. On this trip he was shocked to see the changed face of his region and to hear chilling stories of how Boko Haram’s violence had affected his family and friends.
Betty, my niece, was studying in Mubi and, when Boko Haram attacked, everybody ran. Betty told me the whole story.
As they were running, Betty and her three friends suddenly saw Boko Haram militants approaching. They were carrying guns and riding motorcycles. Betty told me that as soon as she realized that the Boko Haram people had seen her and her friends, she knew that they were going to die. The militants stopped and surprised the girls by saying in Hausa: “We’re not after you. Just follow this road… it leads to the nearest village.” Betty thought it was a ploy and that the militants would shoot them in the back. As she walked away, following their directions, she was was trembling and crying. But they didn’t shoot.
Mobile phones have saved a lot of people fleeing. They call family or friends … until their credit runs out. Betty called her father, who sent her brother Jim to drive as close as possible he could to Mubi to get the girls. Jim later told me that soldiers — also fleeing from Mubi — stopped him along the way to ask for a ride back towards Maiduguri. Finally, he reached a blockade where more soldiers stopped him from going further. But pressure rose as more and more people arrived to pick up relatives on the run. Finally, the soldiers said “go at your own risk” and people just drove off as fast as they could to get friends.
Betty had walked a long way in flip-flops and when Jim got her, her legs were swollen and she had cuts all over her feet. She couldn’t walk for two days.
‘The refugees described to me walking through bodies as they fled’
Cal, one of my best friends in Guyuk, is now housing six refugee families — including 13 children between the ages of one and seven — who fled Mubi during the Boko Haram attacks. They are all staying in four cramped rooms. I spoke to them and they described having to step over bodies as they fled. They seemed lethargic, without hope and they kept repeating “God will take care of us.” I had to leave because I didn’t want them to see I was crying.
The refugees also told me about another family that ran away from Mubi. Their baby wouldn’t stop crying as they fled. The dad said if the baby keeps crying, they will find us and kill us all. Then the dad killed the child. Now, the family is in Yola and the father is really messed up due to the trauma. He wants to die himself. There are so, so many stories like this.
Six refugee families are crammed into the four rooms of the “boy’s quarters” at the home of our Observer’s friend (Photo: family of our Observer)
These refugees came to Guyuk after fleeing Mubi because they had a friend or relative living in the town. Unfortunately, that person couldn’t house them and they are now staying with strangers. Many families in Adamawa state are housing refugees. (Photo: family of our Observer)
There are so many refugees. Everyone knows someone who has been displaced. Mubi is the second-largest city in the area, after all. It had a university and is a very commercial town. People estimate that 275,000 people, or 75% of Mubi’s population, fled. Rumour has it that there were only 65 Boko Haram militants who came to town. It doesn’t take that many Boko Haram militants to clear a town because people simply panic and run. Boko Haram has done a good job of instilling fear by the gruesome way they kill. The militants ride three to a motorcycle — one drives and the two others position themselves in order to shoot in two different directions. They also alter their guns in order to make more noise. When people hear it, they start running in all directions.
I talked to one refugee — a family friend from our tribe — who said that he has no idea if his house is standing or not. He’s sad about his books — he has visions of the militants burning them or urinating on them [Editor’s note: Even the name Boko Haram represents their hatred of so-called western education. The Islamist group is known for attacking schools and burning books as well as Christian structures]. We know the militants burned every single church in Mubi.
‘Soldiers told me that the government isn’t helping them, that they don’t receive adequate food or medical care’
The main road from Maiduguri comes through my hometown, which makes it a potential militant target. Six months ago, there were no soldiers in Guyuk. Now, they are everywhere.
On one night, we ran into a group of ten soldiers in a military car. My brother asked if they wanted something to eat, so they came and had rice and meat and Coke and Sprite with us. They made it clear that they hadn’t eaten that well in a long time. The soldiers were from southern Nigeria and spoke Igbo. I asked them about how they felt about the situation. They complained: saying the military didn’t pay well (Editor’s note: Soldiers are paid 15,000 naira, or about 70 euros, a month) and that they didn’t have good equipment. They said the commanders, the Ogas, are corrupt and don’t care about the common soldiers. Several of their comrades were injured and died because they didn’t get proper medical care. The government isn’t helping us, they said.
‘It’s not even hush-hush, everyone knows the soldiers run when confronted by BH’
I visited with a high-ranking state official when I was there and he had just finished a meeting with local chiefs in which they approved local vigilante groups called “Yan Paka” (Hausa for hunters) made up of refugees from Mubi. The refugees say, the army isn’t protecting us, we can’t run, this is our home and so we are going to stay and fight back. They have been so pushed against a wall that they are no longer afraid. There are so few Boko Haram that I think if people fought back, there’d be casualties but they wouldn’t win.
I spoke with the official about the field commanders who turn and flee when the militants arrive. It’s not even hush-hush, everyone knows they run.
The official said that it’s just ridiculous, sad and laughable that these thugs can make the army run away, we should be able to fight these militants. But he explained it like this: field commanders in the Nigerian Army have a different profile than the average soldiers. Traditionally, the recruits are children of the Nigerian elite, not common Nigerians. Being a commander in the army is prestigious and cushy. But when faced with on-the-ground fighting, the soldiers don’t want to die, so they run away. Plus there is a lot of corruption.
‘Despite all this, people are kind of functioning because they have to’
When we organised my dad’s funeral, we had to think about security — it was going to be a gathering with thousands of people, a perfect target for Boko Haram. We alerted the police and the local government so we had some escorts. I think a lot of people didn’t come to the funeral because of security concerns.
Despite all this, people are functioning because they have to.
In the past six months alone, Nigeria has seen the number of people displaced inside the country soar from 600,000 to around 1.5 million, according to Robert Piper, who coordinates the UN’s humanitarian work in the Sahel region. In addition, some 100,000 Nigerians have fled across the borders to Cameroon and Niger.
Post written with FRANCE 24 journalist Brenna Daldorph (@brennad87)
