₦airaland Forum

A lecturer at the Federal College of Education, FCE,
Kabuga, Kano, Chief Christian Ojimba, in a recent
interview with Vanguard recounted the ordeal he and
some of his students went through when Boko
Haram members visited their school on September
17th, an attack that lasted 45minutes. Below is what
he said...
"It was a very serious attack and an unexpected
one. Before the attack on our school, Boko Haram
terrorists had attacked Kano State Polytechnic
inside the city centre, with the new strategy of
using female and male teenagers, who they arm
with bombs. In broad-day light on Wednesday,
September 17, our school, the Federal College of
Technology, Kano, was attacked.
That day, I didn’t have lectures, but, in my usual way,
I had to go to school, because I am very friendly with
my students.
I am always in my office to solve their problems
because I love my students. I must say that I had
premonition which, if I had heeded, I wouldn’t have
been involved in the attack. One, I didn’t have
lectures; two, when I got to the school gate, I
discovered my office keys were not in my bag; three,
my wallet containing my identity card, driver’s licence
and other important documents was not with me. But
when I got to the office, my colleague had already
opened the door with his own key. If the door had
been locked, I would have gone back home.
I stayed in the office, Room 78, upstairs at the new
site of School of Arts and Social Sciences, FCE, Kano.
Around 1.15pm that day, I heard the sound of
multiple bomb explosions at close range. Before you
knew it, there was pandemonium. Students and staff
were running helter skelter for their lives. On
noticing this, I came out of my chair to check what
was happening and what I saw was the Boko Haram
people wielding AK-47 guns shooting sporadically
and directly at everyone at sight. Downstairs, they
had killed one of our lecturers, Dr. Thomas Kayode
Ajamu from Ogbomoso, Oyo State. Dr. Ajamu, a
former Head, Department of Christian Religious
Studies, CRS, was buried that same week.
So when I came out of the door, there was no way to
pass. Dead bodies littered everywhere because this
attack happened at the prime-time for lectures.
Before the attack, I have reason to believe terrorists
came on surveillance. Several male teenagers came
visiting our offices in pretence that they were begging
for money. The one that came to my office said,
teacher good afternoon, please I am going to the
hospital, I am not feeling too well, but I don’t have
money for transportation. Even though I don’t
understand Hausa very well. I replied him in Hausa,
that I forgot my money at home, that there was no
money on me, and he thanked me and left.
That was the conversation during the surveillance
time and they did it in all the blocks in the five
departments of the school- Department of History
where I belong, Department of Geography, Social
Studies, Christian Religious Studies, Islamic Religious
Studies, and the Deanery. They surveyed everywhere
before the attack.
My office is located on the first floor of a one storey
building, so, I couldn’t jump down. I saw students
jumping down, some got injured, while others didn’t.
What I did was that I hugged a pillar from the first
floor, trying to come down through it. So, when
students noticed I have created an escape route,
many joined me and it was in that process that there
was a stampede. I fell down and couldn’t move
because the long bone joining my right knee got
broken and shifted out of its socket.
I was trapped. I couldn’t run because a Boko Haram
man was just a stone throw. So, I told myself, ‘to God
be the glory, God receive my soul in heaven’. There
was no escape, the man was directly shooting
sporadically at any person in sight. He was shooting
directly at both the young and old. They didn’t spare
young boys and girls who came to the school to sell
groundnut and pure water. All of them where shot
dead.
At the end, there was a massive attack, many people
were killed, several others were wounded. The big
testimony of it all, was that the Boko Haram man was
standing on me, while shooting at others. When I saw
him I played dead. I remembered when I was in
Alvan Ikokwu College of Education, Owerri, in 1984,
there was this lecture we had then on self-defence
mechanism. I remembered the lecturer told us how
to escape if we were in situations like this. So, that
knowledge came into me. Another thing that came
into my mind at that critical moment was that I
remembered that I and my wife had been praying
and fasting against gun shots, bomb blast.
At the Boko Haram man stood on me as if I was a
dead victim, I didn’t know how God seized the pains I
was going through as a result of the broken knee
bone and also my breathe was also seized.
Few minutes later, the man left me and was walking
away towards the school gate. At that same time,
there was one of the female lecturers in my
department who was finding her way out with four
others. The man spotted them and asked them to say
their last prayers. While they put their hands up to
say the prayers, the bomb the man had on his body
blew him up.
Shortly thereafter, a security guard came to me and
asked me to stand up, stand up, but I told him I
couldn’t, that my leg was broken. He tried to pull me
but it was not easy because I was bigger than him. He
managed to pull me to hide behind a door inside a
class. There too, I also played dead because the
sound of gun shots was still raging.
Some minutes later, I peeped from the door and saw
some policemen inside the school. I was in dilemma
as to whether to call them to come and help me or
not, because, sometimes, these Boko Haram people
dress in police and military uniforms. Everybody had
vacated the school premises, nobody knew I was
behind the door writhing in pains. I said if the
policemen were not authentic security agents that
means I am gone, because there was still sound of
gun shots.
God receive my soul
I said within myself, if they were genuine policemen, I
have a testimony to tell, but if they were fake, God
receive my soul. So, I summoned the courage and
called them, ‘Officer, officer, please come and rescue
me’, and they said ‘who are you?’ I introduced myself
as Chief Ojimba of History Department of the college.
I told them I fell from upstairs and my leg was
broken.
It was then that they mobilised other soldiers. They
asked for my ID card. I told them I left it at home.
They didn’t believe me and threatened to kill me. I
said I couldn’t stand up, my leg was broken.
I said they could waste me but I was a lecturer in the
school and they could confirm by going to my office
at room 78. I said they could see my two phones and
a new laptop in the office. Yet they didn’t believe me,
so, they ordered me to pull-off my shirt and singlet
which I did. They further asked me to pull-off my
trousers and I cried to them that my legs were
already swollen and my bones broken and I could
not. In harsh tone, they warned that if I fail to obey
their instructions they will shoot me. After doing that,
they also asked me pull-off my short, which I did and
was stark naked.
Well, one shouldn’t blame them, because they were
actually doing their job. They wanted to confirm if I
was not one of the terrorists, and was not concealing
any bomb in me. When they noticed I was stark
naked and nothing was on me, they instructed me to
put on my clothes. Then, they rescued me out of the
place. An Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP,
that came with the team, an elderly man like myself,
carried me on his back, with three other soldiers
carrying my swollen right leg to the waiting school
ambulance. I cried like a baby, as I was taken to the
Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano. I have
never cried like that before all my life. It was then
that they brought out dead, Dr. Ajamu of the
Department of CRS. He was shot inside his office,
because the Boko Haram people went to offices,
classrooms and toilets shooting anybody at sight.
I stayed at the specialist hospital with my broken leg
inside Plaster of Paris, POP, for about a week. But I
must confess that I was impressed by the way our
school’s governing council, the school management,
students, staff unions, friends and relations rallied
round me while I was hospitalised.

so pathetic

When will all these Hollywood style movie killing stop?

Buhari's boys doing what they know best.

wow....
So touching.

Click like if you agree that thunder will fire all Bokos, both the surveillance group and their foot soldiers.........and also their financiers.

Tragic!!!

AcidosisMega:
Buhari's boys doing what they know best.

My guy, have u ever asked urslf this "why is boko haram difficult to conquer by GEJ being the GCFR??" GMB wiped off th Matatsines during his time. As a young boy, u will not know these terrorist groups. They are worst than boko haram. GMB single handedly wiped dem off. Why is it taking this clueless man time to wipe bh off?? Pls start asking urslf that qstn and profound an answer for that. All we need now is wat??
#Change!!

managermahmud:
My guy, have u ever asked urslf this "why is boko haram difficult to conquer by GEJ being the GCFR??" GMB wiped off th Matatsines during his time. As a young boy, u will not know these terrorist groups. They are worst than boko haram. GMB single handedly wiped dem off. Why is it taking this clueless man time to wipe bh off?? Pls start asking urslf that qstn and profound an answer for that. All we need now is wat??
#Change!!

Are you comparing Matatsines who fight with cutlass, sticks, bows and arrows with a terrorist group like Boko haram, an arm of ISIS, Al-Qaeda??

Who did this to you?

managermahmud:
My guy, have u ever asked urslf this "why is boko haram difficult to conquer by GEJ being the GCFR??" GMB wiped off th Matatsines during his time. As a young boy, u will not know these terrorist groups. They are worst than boko haram. GMB single handedly wiped dem off. Why is it taking this clueless man time to wipe bh off?? Pls start asking urslf that qstn and profound an answer for that. All we need now is wat??
#Change!!

because maitatsine was not as advanced in tools as boko haram, no suicide bombers recorded, no military and political sympathy, no incitements against federal government and there was cooperation among the stakeholders, maximum forces was applied without anyone seeing it as victimized. everyone were not throwing blames instead they supported the FG to tackled the insurgent, no external supports for maitatsine recorded, Muhammed marwa was known and visible enemy and know where to find him, he was bold enough to showed his identity, was not hidden, no mutiny and mutiny encouragement. and many other factors. if you can itemized all this factors you will see the difference BTW the two insurgents. thanks if you can correct me if my opinion is erronously made.