Remorseless Killers

The Boko Haram killing machine roars loudly, claiming many lives even in fortified places

Matthew Ndagoso, Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna, loves to flaunt his pastoral grip on his church members. His teachings are revered as handouts from God. The archbishop is attended with utmost devotion. But last week when he visited Saint Rita Catholic Church which was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents recently, the reception he got was not cheery. As the clergyman admonished the congregation to always abstain from retaliation, no matter the provocation from Boko Haram, the band of Islamists unleashing terror on Christians and security agencies, the parishioners rose in unison against the church’s indifference to their plight. Two days earlier, Ndagoso had received a similar cold shoulder from the diocesan priests with whom he met to discourage reprisal attacks against Muslims engineered by their parishioners. The worshippers, majority of who were youths, expressed dismay at what they perceive as feckless talk about staying aloof while they get decimated by Boko Haram bombs. The archbishop’s admonitions followed spates of bombing and shooting perpetrated by members of the sect.

Boko Haram has bruised the Nigerian security apparatchik without end. And like all Nigerian adults of cognitive ability, the archbishop’s mission had weighty implications. Will he succeed in his Sisyphean task of checking the building up tension? Too close to call. Here is why.

Having successfully etched itself into the nation’s psyche as a terror machine incapable of being hemmed, Boko Haram has moved to hitting even bigger targets. From regular shoot-outs with security agencies and attacking poorly equipped police formations, in parts of northern Nigeria, it has taken the battle to areas hitherto thought to be terror-proof. On Sunday 24 November, its death squad drove explosive-laden vehicles into Jaji Military Cantonment. The army formation houses the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, AFCSC; Nigerian Army School of Infantry, NASI; Infantry Corps Command College, ICCC; and the Nigeria Army Peace Keeping Centre, NAPKC. Conservative estimates put the number of worshippers who perished at the St. Andrew’s Protestant Military Church at 15. In addition, the church was burnt.

The ease with which Jaji was breached has emboldened the sect. Two days after that operation, it was the turn of the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a highly fortified detention centre in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. The onslaught culminated in the death of two officers. Detainees, some of whom were arrested for heinous crimes, were freed.

Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, is still reeling from the embarrassment. While visiting the FCT Police Command, a rattled Abubakar told newsmen that, “We are not resting on the issue of the attack on SARS Headquarters. We are still investigating and once we conclude, we will take necessary actions, but l can tell you, heads will roll in SARS.”

Having flexed muscles with the security agencies and won, the terrorists turned to civilians, their easier prey. On 3 December, they giddily detonated explosives at Kano State’s Kantin Kwari Market, reputed to be the biggest textile market in West Africa. While briefing the press on the incident, Magaji Majia, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer said “There was an explosion around the Kantin Kwari Market, targeting some traffic personnel. Four persons were injured; they included a Federal Road Safety personnel, a Hisbah personnel and a state traffic warden as well as a passer-by.” Eyewitnesses accuse the police of fiddling with the truth on the casualty figure. They claim that at least three lives were lost in the blast.

In-between the megahits, the militants also indulge in gruesome murders. A few days ago, men suspected to be Boko Haram foot soldiers, under the cloak of darkness attacked Chibok, a sleepy town in Yobe State. Besides setting houses ablaze, they reportedly slit the throats of ten Christians. Nuhu Clark, a former politician who escaped the attack, saw the killers come into the town “around 9 p.m, chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’, which made us suspect they were Boko Haram men. They moved into selected homes of the predominantly Christian part of the town and slaughtered ten people.”

The night raids by the Islamists also berthed in Madauchi community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna. Holding the town captive with sporadic shooting, the group premiered a new method of harvesting deaths – they roasted a family of six in the fire they set to their victims’ home.

Boko Haram demonstrates tactical switches. On 28 November for instance, they engaged the army in a gun battle in Balabaulin, a Maiduguri suburb. The test of arms resulted in the death of one soldier. Days earlier, the sect’s blood-letting embraced the headlines as they killed 20 women for purportedly wearing mini-skirts and figure-hugging dresses. Reports say a majority of the victims were students of the University of Maiduguri.

Last Thursday, Boko Haram experimented with explosives on a luxury bus travelling out of Kano, at the Zaria roundabout area of the city, prompting luxury bus operators to call for help. Despite claiming more lives than any epidemic in Nigeria’s immediate history, government’s apathy towards exterminating the terror group continues to worry Nigerians. The security agencies appear unable to tame the group. Boko Haram’s hit on Jaji occurred days after the military Joint Task Force, JTF, announced a reward for anyone that offered information that would lead to the arrest of some key Boko Haram commanders.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s image is plummeting because of his tepid handling of the insurgence. In its 4 December 2012 editorial, for example, Punch newspaper acknowledged some progressive strides made by the current administration. It however noted that: “These achievements are being dwarfed by the administration’s lack of ability to tackle the security challenges promptly with the deployment of appropriate strategies backed up by a strong political will. It is this apparent lack of will power that has compounded our security challenges.”

Commentators believe that government should take decisive action to end the Boko Haram menace – attack it with full military force or engage its leaders in fruitful dialogue. Either way, government’s apparent leaning towards the path of indifference, despite trenchant admonition, is not yielding results: the terrorists are harvesting tonnes of blood and widening the country’s ethno-religious fault lines.

Many residents in the volatile areas have resigned to fate. The common belief is that government can no longer protect them. This was manifested in Madauchi, where, despite roadblocks mounted by the army, the marauders still had a field day wreaking havoc on the community. One resident wondered why the attacks “could be going on successfully despite the military checkpoints stationed in this area”. The gunmen, he lamented, “shot sporadically into the air for about 30 minutes but no security men went to the area to save the people until after they had left”.

At this rate, Ndagoso and his ilk who are calling for restraint may soon be speaking to the deaf, or the dead.

—Nkrumah Bankong-Obi