Residents of Dorayi quarters in Kano said they woke up to a grisly morning on Sunday
when soldiers stormed the
neighbourhood in search of
“suspects.”
The soldiers beat up people,
rummaged through personal
belongings and pilfered
money, as well as attempted
to rape a housewife during
the raid, residents told Daily
Trust yesterday.
Dorayi is near the Bayero
University, where gunmen
killed at least 19 people last
month, and where planted
bombs were subsequently
found before they went off.
Residents said dozens of
soldiers arrived in the
neighbourhood in pickup
vehicles and armored
personnel carriers at about
5.30am as Muslims perform
the morning prayers.
Malam Haladu Adamu, imam
of one of the mosques in the
area, said he was coming out
of the mosque when soldiers
shouted at him to stop.
“They forced every
worshipper to sit down in
front of the mosque while
others that were coming for
other purposes were forced
to lie face down on road. We
were all unable to perform
the morning prayers until
9.00am after they had left,”
he said.
Anas Alkasim, who suffered a
knee-joint dislocation during
the incident, said, “I was on
my way to the mosque
around 5.30am when some
soldiers suddenly pounced
on me and began hitting me
with iron rods and sticks.
“They also used aluminium
ladders to scale the walls of
our houses and jump into
our compounds while some
of them used gun butts to
forcefully open our doors.
“The soldiers claimed they
were searching for some
suspects and rummaged our
rooms… dispossessing us of
our money and mobile
phones. I lost my N20,000
school fees that was sent to
me by a relative to the
soldiers during the raid.”
Hajiya Hadiza, a middle-aged
housewife, said she was on
her praying mat when she
heard people screaming
outside. “About 10 soldiers
later forced their way into
our house…. They entered
our rooms and demanded
for our phones. They took
away our money amounting
to N3,000.
“When I demanded to know
what the problem was, the
soldiers simply told us that
they were looking for some
suspects. They forced out
many of us out of our homes
and asked us to lie down face
down. Some of the women
were half-naked,” she said.
Another victim who does not
want her name mentioned
told Daily Trust that she
resisted attempts by one of
the soldiers to rape her.
“I was sleeping in my room
with my children when one
of the soldiers broke in and
asked us all to move out.
They asked about my
husband and I told them that
he had gone to the mosque.
They then lifted up my
mattress and searched under
our bed and ceilings.
“As I came out of the room
and tried to seek refuge in
my neighbour’s house, one
of the soldiers who remained
inside my room beckoned at
me but I ignored him. When
I noticed that he wanted to
rape me, I told him that I
would rather be shot dead
than go to him. He then
opened my box of clothes
and took away my N2,000.
My children were so
traumatised that they
couldn’t take any breakfast.
These soldiers should please
leave us alone,” she said.
When contacted for
comments, spokesman for
the Joint Task Force in Kano,
Lieutenant Ikedichi Iweha,
said the allegations of the
Dorayi people were
“completely false, baseless
and a fabrication aimed
tarnishing the image of the
JTF.”
He said that the JTF only
cordons off areas that are
marked for operations
without entering into
people’s houses.
“If there are any complaints
against the JTF, the
complainants should come to
the barracks and file their
grievances. We have military
police that would go and
investigate,” he said.
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