GENESIS AND CONSEQUENCES OF
BOKO HARAM CRISIS BY AHMAD
SALKIDA

As the only journalist who
dispatched the first ever report on
late Muhammad Yusuf's activities in
Maiduguri, on the 23rd of July
2006, at a time when the sect was
relatively unknown to many
Nigerians, I should be able to give
an insight into the Boko Haram
saga.
I have closely followed the activities
of the Bokoa Haram sect. In fact, I
was invited by the late Yusuf at that
period to establish and head an Al-
mizzan styled newspaper for him.
However, in the course of our
deliberations, I tabled the following
issues that set us apart: I wanted to
be partner in the project, I wanted
editorial freedom to edit out
anything I may find to incite the
public in the publication and I
wanted to introduce a regular
column that totally disagrees with
his ideology.
I think, my conditions, at a time
when I hadn't any gainful
employment, shocked the
prospective investor who thought
any budding journalist would rush
at the opportunity to become an
editor-in-chief especially of a
promising paper, on account of the
large follower ship and the group's
loyalty to their Imam.
However my relationship with late
Mohammed Yusuf continued as he
visited me when I lost my 8 months
old son that died of malaria.
Perhaps, he saw me partially as one
of his students and partially as a
dissenter due to my independent
disposition. But, to be fair to him, I
admire his depth of knowledge,
oratorical prowess and apparent
willingness to emulate Prophet
Muhammad (SAW).
In early 2002, Yusuf was seen by
many as a likely heir to the
renowned late Sheik Ja'afar
Mahmud Adam in Maiduguri on
account of his brilliance and
closeness to the late renowned
scholar. But all that changed
shortly when one late Mohammed
Alli approached late Yusuf with
reasons to boycott democracy, civil
service and western oriented
schools. Late Yusuf then
disengaged his service with the
Yobe state government.
Then, in a 2006 press release
signed by the sect's Shura
(Consultative) Council, they stated
that, Islam permits them to subsist
under a modern government like
Nigeria but has explicitly prohibited
them from joining or supporting
such governments in so far as their
systems, structures and institutions
contain elements contradictory to
core Islamic principles and beliefs.
However, the late Alli argued that
the sect must embark on Hijra
(migration), but late Yusuf declined
and Alli proceeded to Kanamma in
Yobe with his faction, and one
thing led to another, the group
launched an insurgent attack on
the Police that resulted in the loss
of many lives and property in
Kanamma and later in Gwoza in
Borno state. Although the
insurgents, a renegade group that
called itself "Taliban," led by Alli,
fiercely disagreed with late Yusuf
and many of the escapees later
returned to Yusuf.
Unlike Alli, Yusuf went on
undeterred, though he was
prevented from preaching in
several mosques and was denied
TV/Radio appearances in the state.
But he setup a preaching outlet in
the front of his house at the railway
quarters and at Angwan Doki,
millionaires' quarters among
others. The demand for his tapes
increased by the day all over the
north and the proceeds there from
increased tremendously. He, then
asked his landlord and in-law, late
Baba Fugu Mohammed to allow
him to build a mosque whom he
named Ibn Taimiyya Masjid.
It was in Ibn Taimiyya Masjid that
late Yusuf together with his hard-
line top lieutenant Abubakar
Shekau alias `Darul Tauhid,' began
to build an imaginary state within a
state. Together they setup Laginas
(departments), they had a cabinet,
the Shura, the Hisbah, the brigade
of guards, a military wing, a large
farm, an effective micro finance
scheme, and late Yusuf played the
role of a judge in settling disputes,
each State had an Amir (leader)
including amirs in Chad and Niger
that gave accounts of their
stewardship to Yusuf directly.
The sect, led by Yusuf took
advantage of the poor quality of
our educational system, the
incessant strikes, cult activities,
widespread malpractices and
prostitutions that is made worse
with no offer of jobs after
graduation to wheedle many youth
to abandon school and embrace
Yusuf's new and emerging state
that promises to offer them a
better alternative.
Late Yusuf also took advantage of
the irresponsible leadership at all
levels of governmentas
unemployment, poverty, corruption
and insecurity become the order of
the day. And, as he points out such
failures, citing verses of the Qur'an
and the sayings of the Prophet, the
youth see him as the leader that
will indeed deliver them from
malevolence to the promised land.
In my write-up of February 28, 2009
in the Sunday Trust I wrote about
the sect, where I alerted the
general public about the sect's total
disregard for civil obedience. The
report in question warned that to
disregard the simmering cauldron
"smells like rebellion...and it will be
irresponsible of any authority to
wait for the occurrence of violence
before it acts in the face of
impending threat to law and
order," in subsequent reports and
during my interactions with senior
security agents, I did not only
predict the crisis but hinted on the
strategy of the sect. But, typical of
investigative journalism, instead of
these revelations to catch the
attention of the relevant agencies,
their attention was shifted on how
to frame me. Apparently, the plan
was never to prevent a crisis but to
allow it to occur.
However, in fairness to the
government of Borno state that is
living witnesses to the unruly
behaviour of the sect and its
extreme dislike for government
institutions, the state government
like other governments in northern
Nigeria saw the need to halt this
nuisance in their states; they were
alarmed that the sect that started
with a handful of people is hitting
the 7-digit mark and one day (if not
very soon) the likelihood that the
sect may determine the politics of
the land cannot be dismissed.
According to Isa Yuguda, the
Governor of Bauch state in a recent
interview with a weekly newspaper,
"When the Boko Haram issue
came, I sat down and scientifically
organised a Commando raid on
their stronghold. We identified
them over a period of time and
made sure the Ulamas came and
preached against them for two
weeks and they in return issued
fatwa against the Imams that are
preaching against them. We had to
attach policemen to the Imams
because the Boko Haram people
threatened to slaughter them. We
planned for them.
"We cordoned off their area
around 3a.m. in the morning and
phoned my neighbours in Borno
and Yobe states about the
operation I was going to carry out
because their leader was there at
that time. After exchanging
gunshots for some time, we
smoked them out of their houses.
They were fully armed with
grenades, machine guns and rocket
launchers," said Yuguda.
Having kept track of political
activities in the state, I knew very
well that Ali Sheriff, unlike Yuguda,
could not afford to strike first,
Borno could take anything from
him but not an attack on Muslims.
However, the government in Borno
setup a joint security patrol
nicknamed, `operation flush' in
order to serve as a constant check
on the sect.
As the crisis started in Maiduguri,
reporters did the obvious; `live
and tell the story' and they stayed
mostly in the Government House
(GH) and most of them contacted
me directly or indirectly to get
briefed because I chose to do the
`unexpected', which is to `risk my
life to tell the story.' Indeed, I took
undue risk which exposed me to
the unimaginable that would form
the subject of a book I am now
writing.
On Tuesday 29th July 2009 when I
made a stop at the Borno state
Government House, a staff of the
GH, one Yusuf dragged me into the
office of the Chief Security Officer
to the Governor, insisting that the
governor's aide wanted to see my
face for the first time. The aide
wanted to know from me why I did
not shave my beards and lower my
trousers below the ankle to avoid
the wrath (Alas! bullets) of the
security agents.
I, then, told him that it is wrong for
security agents to brand innocent
people that wear beards as Boko
Haram and even killed them based
on that. In fact, to keep beards, to
wear turbans and nisfusaak
(trousers above the ankle) are part
of the prophet's Sirah, which is
recommended to every Muslim
over 1400 years ago, and it is seen
as a deeply spiritual task by many
Muslims all over the world.
He, also, asked me whether or not I
was abducted by the sect members
for a while and released. I put the
record straight that, I only ran into
a mob and thereafter I was left off
the hook when they were
convinced that the brown apron I
was wearing carried an inscription
of Daily Trust had nothing to show
that I was a g

https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/usaafricadialogue/aj_Lg2kXoRo

convinced that the brown apron I
was wearing carried an inscription
of Daily Trust had nothing to show
that I was a government official.
Sadly for me, the CSO did not like
my guts and the fact that I reported
the two sides that clearly exposed
the Achilles' heel of his boss, he
ordered for my arrest, calling my
crime `counter intelligence.' At the
GH I was assaulted by the mobile
police (at the quarter guard post).
There, a Police Constable Sani
Abubakar, held my beards and
pulled me to the ground, he kicked
my legs to forcefully remove my
loafers.
I was made to lie down with my
face down instantly I urinated in my
pants when two mobile police men
contemplated who was going to
pull the trigger, whether that was a
joke or an attempt to scare me.
Thank God I am alive as yet, maybe
the powers that be are aware of
the event that would follow the
execution of a media man within
the GH or as the government
claimed, I was held in protective
custody for my safety.
I was then driven to the police
headquarters in the state where I
was kept in a cell with 58 others.
After spending 30 hours in the cell
and about 48 hours without food
or water (because, I couldn't break
the fast I was observing upon my
arrest), I was then allowed to wash
up the urine that had dried up on
my pants and relieved myself of the
running stomach that became the
audible music in our cell as
everyone witnessed how cell mates
were being called out and
executed, everyone was waiting for
his turn.
Surprisingly, none of my colleagues
investigated and reported the
assault meted against me, even
when some of them searched for
me in the crowded cell as I sat
without shoes on the floor. Instead,
speculations were rife amongst
them that indeed I was a Boko
Haram member, on account of the
following baseless talk: That I wear
beards and trousers above my
ankle and yet I came from a
Christian background and this to
many of them makes me an
extremist.
That I was doing fairly well as a
journalist in the last ten years with
a mere primary school certificate
and that makes me a Boko Haram
too. That, my fair complexioned
spouse was a Shuwa Arab and
given out to me in marriage by late
Yusuf and finally, they said late
Yusuf had contacted some
members of the media on two
occasions through me in the past.
Now that I no longer carry my
youthful goatee and halfway
trousers to avoid being branded a
terrorist meets your requirements
however I want to state here that I
am proud of my Christian
background as a Muslim because it
has afforded me a unique sense of
tolerance and impartial view for the
need for dialogue that many born
Christians and Muslims lack,
leading to the kind of mistrusts we
see today.
My wife is a very proud Tarok, from
Langtang LGA in Plateau state, I met
and married her in Abuja in 2002
and never saw Yusuf in her life. Yes,
I was perhaps the only journalist
known to late Yusuf on account of
what I mentioned earlier on. But,
when has it become illegal to know
a public figure who later became a
criminal?
I started a career in journalism as a
staff reporter with Insider Weekly
Magazine, from 2001 to 2002.
Thereafter, I had a stint with Crystal
Magazine as a Special Projects
Editor and later a founding staff
with New Sentinel and freelanced
for several mediums. Currently, I
work as a reporter with the Media
Trust Limited. I do not posses any
formal educational qualification
beyond primary school; however I
was self educated through years of
extensive reading of books.
As a primary school pupil in the
early 80's, when late Yusuf was a
little kid himself, I would choose to
climb a tree and read a story book
while my mates were in school.
Somehow I managed to complete
my primary school but my disdain
to learn under the four square
walls of a classroom continued
during my Secondary School and
my father decided to discontinue
funding my education. Although, I
was visible in the University of
Maiduguri, not as a student but
sadly, as a commercial final year
project writer to nearly a hundred
undergraduates and a handful of
master's degree thesis as well,
anyway this is a story for another
day.
Although there was a extraordinary
effort by the correspondents
chapel and the Nigerian Union of
Journalist in the area to secure my
release but as my wife who is yet to
recover from the trauma of that
crisis argued, the NUJ should have
demanded for my release and out
rightly condemn my arrest but
instead, they pleaded and pleaded
until I was released; this is an
admittance that indeed one of their
own is guilty as alleged and as my
wife always said, this allegation will
hang over my head for the rest of
my life.
Recently, when Al-jazeera showed
video footage of extra-judicial
killings the world became aware of
some of our experiences in
Maiduguri, and typical of Nigerians,
we heard calls for probe. The most
disturbing call for probe is the one
by the very government that
ordered the summary executions
in the first place. Can a military or
police officer go to town and
harvest corpses without an order
from above? If this is possible,
then it should not be a probe of
extra-judicial killings instead,
government should probe
insubordination and total
breakdown of law and order
amongst security agents leading to
numerous deaths. And, let us not
forget, what happened to the
previous probes setup by the
federal government? I have a
disturbing video that confirmed
what security agents told me
during my arrest. "No prison for
Boko Haram members, we want
them all death." Is it the governor
of Borno state that gave such an
order or Mr President that has
absolute control over the police
and military under the
constitution? Oh, ours is a country
where the constitution is always
disregarded.
Why did they execute Yusuf
together with Baba Fugu
Mohammed and Bugi Foi before
any trial? Was it to cover the dirty
tracks of under cover agents that
worked for years with late Yusuf,
leaving the impression that these
two (that are the richest people
close to late Yusuf) funded the
uprising? Why are the sophisticated
guns of Boko Haram that was used
to keep Nigeria's defence forces
away from their enclave for three
days not displayed to the public
along side corpses? What we saw
was mostly bow and arrows.
Where is Abubakar Shekau? The
police said he died from injuries he
sustained during the crisis. Can we
believe them after all? They said
late Yusuf died in a shootout when
in fact over 50 mobile police men
shot him behind my detention
room, at the armoury right inside
the police headquarters. In my
opinion, Abubakar Shekau, the
second in command of late Yusuf
may be alive.
Over the years, the failure of
security agents to prevent crisis that
often times leads to loss of lives
and property worth billions of naira
goes unpunished. We never hear
any apology or resignation from
political leaders or heads of security
agents. The only punishment is,
erring commissioners of Police are
transferred to an obscure
department of special duties at the
Force Headquarters' in Abuja, as
was the case with the
commissioners during Boko Haram
and the recent Jos crisis.
Were it not for a country like
Nigeria, where government have
failed to provide basic life support
for its citizens, late Yusuf may have
never thrived. A functional
environment with opportunities for
all, equal justice for all, fairness to
all and governed by leaders that
are responsible for their people,
the rude and retrogressive
teachings of late Yusuf would have
not received the attention of about
a million followers all over the
north. Indeed, late Yusuf's teaching
was an abuse to Algebra,
reproductive health and the
science of astronomy that has its
roots in Islam, if indeed it is true
that he said boko is haram.
From my interaction with him, he
never said boko is haram plainly; in
fact the name Boko Haram came to
being during the crisis. What he
always said was, as long as
anything that contradicts the
teachings of Islam (in his own view)
exists in the educational system
then it is haram to go to that
school unless such things ceased
to exist. As members of the sect
realised, they cannot ensure such
change, especially in a secular state
like ours; they withdrew from
schools completely. But I am aware
that late Yusuf had plans to set up
a school, a hospital and a market in
the future to complement the
sect's micro finance scheme and
other Laginas.
Unfortunately, late Yusuf's
teachings that caused crisis and
death of hundreds of our gallant
security agents and made it
inhuman for people like Yusuf to
survive, contradicts not only Islam
which he claims to be preaching to
his followers but his very existence.
I saw when members of the sect
slaughtered a police sergeant, L.
Adamu. He pleaded with them that
he was never against them and
said he was a fellow Muslim but yet
they slaughtered him like a goat.
Was this the reason why the police
and military summarily executed
the suspected sect members in the
same manner the sect did to their
colleagues?
Suffice it to say