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Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal - Politics - Nairaland

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Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by GworoChewinMaga: 5:06pm On Feb 25, 2016
Hamman Yaji, a Fulbe{fulani} , was the last slave raider of the Northern Mandaras {northeast Nigeria, parts of cameroun and present day Chad }. He was arrested by the British in 1927 and montagnards from Sukur to Dughwede give explicite accounts on his relentless raiding. His diary was published in 1995 (Vaughan et al). It is historically unclear whether it was the suspicion of Mahdism or the complains from montagnards which led to his arrest (Muller-Kosack 1999).

The diary of Hamman Yaji is unique: a precious historical source, a fascinating social document. From September 1912 until the day before his arrest in August 19, an insider voice tells us of life in the early colonial period, on the furthest margin of European authority.

Madagali, in present-day northeastern Nigeria, was a tiny principality within the Adamawa emirate, itself a province of the Sokoto caliphate: all three were conquest states, ruled by Muslim Fulani. Hamman Yaji became ruler of Madagali in 1902, appointed by the Germans the day after they had killed the previous ruler, his father. He survived the change to French rule in 1916, to British in 1922. The British deposed him in August 19, allegedly for past slaving, but probably more for his Mahdist sympathies. From September 1912 until the day before his arrest, Hamman Yaji chronicled his activities, sometimes almost daily. Entries are generally sparse, but, read carefully, and with the helpful editorial material in this book, the ensemble is remarkable. The book is dedicated to all people of the Madagali district, with the hope that their future will be one of harmony and mutual cooperation.

A worthy hope, but sitting a little uneasily here, since Hamman Yaji was a dedicated slave raider.

The recurrent litany makes chilling reading:

May 12, 1913: "...I sent my soldiers to Sukur and they destroyed thehouse of the Arnado [village head] and took a horse and seven slave girls and burnt their houses."

May 21: "I captured 20 slave girls."

June 11th: "I captured six slave girls and ten cattle, and killed three men."

June 25: "I captured 48 slave girls and 26 cattle and I killed five persons."

July 6: "I captured 30 cattle and six slave girls."


All this (and more) on a single page. Exactly what such raids involved the diary itself does not say: traditions gathered later amongst the victimized populations are ghoulish indeed, comparable with another unique document, the eye-witness account of Bagirmi slaving a little further east and 40 years earlier, recorded by the German traveler Gustav Nachtigal in the third volume of his Sahara and Sudan.

Hamman Yaji's editors suggest, a little speculatively, that a word from a British officer in March 1924 sufficed to stop the raiding. The raiding did stop, and even the most tender liberal conscience, reflecting on colonialism, may take some comfort that a line was drawn under such entries as: "I sent Fadhl al Nar with his men to raid Sukur and they captured 80 slaves, of whom I gave away 40. We killed men and women and 17 children."

The troops were evidently out of control here: women and children were too valuable to be killed. The exploitation, often sexual, of women is clear: female slaves circulated as gifts, or in exchange (three for a horse, for instance). Hamman Yaji swapped female slaves with one of his men, even with his son, who objected that "he did not want a girl, he wanted a boy slave".

Even in such circumstances, a defiant female voice is audible: "I found that my slave girl in the absence of her fellow-slaves had said that she would not prepare my food for me. Why she would not cook my food I do not know, but anyway the result was that I got no food from her and was obliged to buy it."


Or again: "I my wife Umm Asta Belel said that in respect of her being a Muslim she was tired of it, and in respect of her being a pagan it would be better for her." Some passages are enigmatic, such as: "I fixed the penalty for every slave who leaves me without cause at four slave girls and if he is a poor man 200 lashes."

Is the implication here that slaves with cause could leave? How many slaves were rich enough to be able to pay a fine of four slave girls? What where the chances of surviving 200 lashes? Slavery is by far the most prominent single theme, but there are many others, such as local politics and power structures, the local practice of Islam, and the advance of colonialism. The diary ends on a homely note: "On the same day Sarkin Lifida ruined the onions."

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/deep-insight-on-an-african-despot/162186.article

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Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by GworoChewinMaga: 5:10pm On Feb 25, 2016
A European's account of Madagali during the years of Hamman Yaji

The … [northern districts of Madagali, Cubunawa. and Mubi] taken over by this province … are the most lawless, ill-governed places I have seen in Nigeria … Slave dealing and slave raiding are rampant … chiefs of minor importance were given rifles with which they were encouraged to attack the wretched pagans [who are] hiding like frightened monkeys on inaccessible hilltops … of course, everyone goes about fully armed: spears, shields, bows and arrows, clubs, etc. (The British Resident, Yola province, in 1920, cited by Anthony Kirk-Greene 1958: 84)

3 Likes

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by GworoChewinMaga: 5:23pm On Feb 25, 2016
There is a historical perspective to this madness in the northeast with Boko Haram as can be seen with the constant slave raiding by Muslims on animist people in the NE.

The disdain for ISLAM was so ingrained in the minority tribes people in the NE that they resisted converting to Islam even at the threat of death since the Fulani raiders did not make any significant distinguishing case when raiding non hausa/fulani and kanuri settlers irrespective if they where converts to islam. This ought to explain the ethno-religious supremacy held by Kanuri/Hausa/Fulanis over minority northerners and why modern day jihadist criminals like boko haram are exclusively composed by these same ethnic groups. The indigenous people of the NE hated Islam so much no thanks to years of slave raiding by Islamists like Hamman Yaji that they converted to Christianity almost immediately when the first European missionaries arrived.

What we see in the NE with Boko Haram is nothing new but a sustained and systematic slow genocide carried out on minority ethnic groups in the north and middle belt by HAUSA/FULANI extremists jihadist criminals.

1 Like

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by MansaMoussa: 5:40pm On Feb 25, 2016
Exactly!
Boko Haram is merely an extension of Jihadism, same as the fulani herdsmen marauding the MB today..funny enough, 100yrs after this was written, the minority tribes of the north are still hiding up on " inaccessible mountains like scared monkeys" while living their cities to the fulani to govern and establish dominance...Taraba, Gombe, Adamawa, Borno....who rules the plains?
Dear people's of Old kwararafa, come together, hold a secret meeting and chart a noble course for yourselves and your children
The battle hasnt ended, the tactics merely changed.

5 Likes

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by Anticabal: 6:37pm On Feb 25, 2016
Anyone who doesn't hate Islam is 100% demented.

5 Likes

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by GworoChewinMaga: 6:51pm On Feb 25, 2016
MansaMoussa:
Exactly!
Boko Haram is merely an extension of Jihadism, same as the fulani herdsmen marauding the MB today..funny enough, 100yrs after this was written, the minority tribes of the north are still hiding up on " inaccessible mountains like scared monkeys" while living their cities to the fulani to govern and establish dominance...Taraba, Gombe, Adamawa, Borno....who rules the plains?
Dear people's of Old kwararafa, come together, hold a secret meeting and chart a noble course for yourselves and your children
The battle hasnt ended, the tactics merely changed.

The slave raiders mentality is still a very strong reason why the northern muslim ulma looks down at minority tribes

This is the same mindset Buhari used in dismissing the Chibok parents

3 Likes

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by GworoChewinMaga: 7:56pm On Feb 25, 2016
Here is a dairy kept by the boko
http://fliphtml5.com/ffoh/otqw/basic/51-72
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by 12Monkeys: 9:15pm On Aug 15, 2016
GworoChewinMaga:
Hamman Yaji, a Fulbe{fulani} , was the last slave raider of the Northern Mandaras {northeast Nigeria, parts of cameroun and present day Chad }. He was arrested by the British in 1927 and montagnards from Sukur to Dughwede give explicite accounts on his relentless raiding. His diary was published in 1995 (Vaughan et al). It is historically unclear whether it was the suspicion of Mahdism or the complains from montagnards which led to his arrest (Muller-Kosack 1999).

The diary of Hamman Yaji is unique: a precious historical source, a fascinating social document. From September 1912 until the day before his arrest in August 19, an insider voice tells us of life in the early colonial period, on the furthest margin of European authority.

Madagali, in present-day northeastern Nigeria, was a tiny principality within the Adamawa emirate, itself a province of the Sokoto caliphate: all three were conquest states, ruled by Muslim Fulani. Hamman Yaji became ruler of Madagali in 1902, appointed by the Germans the day after they had killed the previous ruler, his father. He survived the change to French rule in 1916, to British in 1922. The British deposed him in August 19, allegedly for past slaving, but probably more for his Mahdist sympathies. From September 1912 until the day before his arrest, Hamman Yaji chronicled his activities, sometimes almost daily. Entries are generally sparse, but, read carefully, and with the helpful editorial material in this book, the ensemble is remarkable. The book is dedicated to all people of the Madagali district, with the hope that their future will be one of harmony and mutual cooperation.

A worthy hope, but sitting a little uneasily here, since Hamman Yaji was a dedicated slave raider.

The recurrent litany makes chilling reading:

May 12, 1913: "...I sent my soldiers to Sukur and they destroyed thehouse of the Arnado [village head] and took a horse and seven slave girls and burnt their houses."

May 21: "I captured 20 slave girls."

June 11th: "I captured six slave girls and ten cattle, and killed three men."

June 25: "I captured 48 slave girls and 26 cattle and I killed five persons."

July 6: "I captured 30 cattle and six slave girls."


All this (and more) on a single page. Exactly what such raids involved the diary itself does not say: traditions gathered later amongst the victimized populations are ghoulish indeed, comparable with another unique document, the eye-witness account of Bagirmi slaving a little further east and 40 years earlier, recorded by the German traveler Gustav Nachtigal in the third volume of his Sahara and Sudan.

Hamman Yaji's editors suggest, a little speculatively, that a word from a British officer in March 1924 sufficed to stop the raiding. The raiding did stop, and even the most tender liberal conscience, reflecting on colonialism, may take some comfort that a line was drawn under such entries as: "I sent Fadhl al Nar with his men to raid Sukur and they captured 80 slaves, of whom I gave away 40. We killed men and women and 17 children."

The troops were evidently out of control here: women and children were too valuable to be killed. The exploitation, often sexual, of women is clear: female slaves circulated as gifts, or in exchange (three for a horse, for instance). Hamman Yaji swapped female slaves with one of his men, even with his son, who objected that "he did not want a girl, he wanted a boy slave".

Even in such circumstances, a defiant female voice is audible: "I found that my slave girl in the absence of her fellow-slaves had said that she would not prepare my food for me. Why she would not cook my food I do not know, but anyway the result was that I got no food from her and was obliged to buy it."


Or again: "I my wife Umm Asta Belel said that in respect of her being a Muslim she was tired of it, and in respect of her being a pagan it would be better for her." Some passages are enigmatic, such as: "I fixed the penalty for every slave who leaves me without cause at four slave girls and if he is a poor man 200 lashes."

Is the implication here that slaves with cause could leave? How many slaves were rich enough to be able to pay a fine of four slave girls? What where the chances of surviving 200 lashes? Slavery is by far the most prominent single theme, but there are many others, such as local politics and power structures, the local practice of Islam, and the advance of colonialism. The diary ends on a homely note: "On the same day Sarkin Lifida ruined the onions."

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/deep-insight-on-an-african-despot/162186.article
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by ShinnBet: 8:05am On Jan 25, 2020
Bump
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by stonemasonn: 8:45am On Jan 25, 2020
MansaMoussa:

Dear people's of Old kwararafa, come together, hold a secret meeting and chart a noble course for yourselves and your children
The battle hasnt ended, the tactics merely changed.
It's not going to happen, they've been depopulated, alot have migrated to major cities like Maiduguri, Kaduna, Jos and Abuja. Some have converted to Islam but even the muslims ain't safe under the current Bokoharam.
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by saaron(m): 9:07am On Jan 25, 2020
Same thing, same modus operandi. Genocide and massacre of people and abduction of non muslim girls. ISIS did it. Boko haram did it with Chibok girls, Dapchi girls and numerous others not reported. Northern Emirs are using their palace to hide kidnaped non muslim girls.
Islam is nothing but a terrorist religion!

3 Likes

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by ShinnBet: 7:59pm On Jan 25, 2020
saaron:
Same thing, same modus operandi. Genocide and massacre of people and abduction of non muslim girls. ISIS did it. Boko haram did it with Chibok girls, Dapchi girls and numerous others not reported. Northern Emirs are using their palace to hide kidnaped non muslim girls.
Islam is nothing but a terrorist religion!

I know of a christian minority from Borno who told me back in 2014 that he and his people will vote enmasse for Buhari in the upcoming elections. When probed on why, he said "for peace to reign, GEJ must go as these people (Fulanis) will not stop their Bokos until a christian is removed from office.

This is the same line of argument that the likes of Gowon waged war on fellow Christians and opposing Murtala's operation Araba fearing the worst if left in the same country alone with the Fulani.

It is time we in the Better South forget saving fellow Christians in Yoruba land and the north. In the case of Yoruba land, they will not admit it, but their Muslim counterparts have already sold them as eternal slaves to Sokoto. Despite all Fulani atrocities on his own people, Gowon still believes the mortgage he took on the backs of Igbos to stave off Fulani terrorists is still worth it.

2 Likes

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by ShinnBet: 12:42am On Jan 26, 2020
Yarimo
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by AreaFada2: 1:41am On Jan 26, 2020
Na wa o. It has tey.

Dan Fodio was no different. He won the wars against Hausa Kingdoms so history was written in his favour.

Had Buhari, Abacha, IBB, and others lost the coup in 1983, they would have been shot like common criminals. Now they pose as patriots.

If you succeed in criminality you can rewrite history.

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Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by Born2Breed(f): 3:42am On Jan 26, 2020
grin

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Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by Sirjamo: 6:25am On Jan 26, 2020
Useless story. Are you telling me that Igbo, Yoruba and other southern rulers at that time did not kill anyone?

It's a known fact that the only way to expand your territory then was to raid and terrorize and capture people for slavery. Slavery was even more prevalent in the south.
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by RZArecta(m): 6:46am On Jan 26, 2020
Sirjamo:
Useless story. Are you telling me that Igbo, Yoruba and other southern rulers at that time did not kill anyone?

It's a known fact that the only way to expand your territory then was to raid and terrorize and capture people for slavery. Slavery was even more prevalent in the south.
difference being that such things no longer happen in the south and haven’t happened for over a century while the Fulani terrorists still perpetuate their Stone Age mentality of killing men and kidnapping women/girls as slaves to be ràped or sold to this very day. Why are the Fulani people such a problem to this country ejoor cool

2 Likes

Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by 12Monkeys: 1:48pm On Jan 26, 2020
Sirjamo:
Useless story. Are you telling me that Igbo, Yoruba and other southern rulers at that time did not kill anyone?

It's a known fact that the only way to expand your territory then was to raid and terrorize and capture people for slavery. Slavery was even more prevalent in the south.

Yaribanza talk
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by OK2NVME: 12:45pm On Jun 12, 2020
cheesy
Re: Hamman Yaji : The First Real Boko Jihadist Criminal by AntiMahdi: 5:48pm On Jun 05, 2022
Bump

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