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How Boko Haram Jihadist Snatched 25 Communities From Niger State – FIJ
In April 2021, an rebel named Mallam Sadiqu arrange an empire within the native sprawl of Shiroro, Niger State. As a Boko Haram jihadist, he took management of political and social life in about 25 communities.
Sadiqu began his infiltration of the communities like a ‘mild man of God’ earlier than professing himself as a Boko Haram commander spreading Islamic extremism, which coincides with the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād’s college of thought.
He would later declare himself a “constituted authority” and threaten to ‘waste’ anybody who refused to swallow his selections or tried to show him to the federal government.
He arrange a cupboard for his Islamic authorities and browse publicly the foundations and laws, rewards and penalties for sure acts, emphasising his mission to struggle the federal government and take over the state.
“He informed them that he was not dangerous to most of the people as a result of he was a Boko Haram [insurgent],” a supply conversant in Sadiqu’s system of presidency informed FIJ. “He mentioned he was not preventing the lots however the authorities. He mentioned all people ought to settle all the way down to stay their regular lives. However they might have protocols.”
After declaring himself an authority, he recruited ruthless younger individuals who had taken half in rural banditry and cattle theft, overpowering Dogo Gide, a feared bandit chief in Shiroro. He empowered his recruits with swords, powerbikes, AK47s and Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs).
He then dominated communities like Kaure, Kusasu, Pai, Chukuba, Kwaki, Kurebe, Iburo, Kushaka, Kushaku, Biko, Alaita, Dnasepa, Kokokki, Nakundna, Afapi, Kampani, Kudumidna, Sakko, Ajatayi, Lukupe, Badna, Alai Kwaki, Bududna and Maimalufa.
“In case you have a feminine baby of 12 years, it’s important to marry her out,” Sadiqu was quoted to have ordered residents of those communities.
How did a ‘mild man of God’ change into essentially the most dreaded terrorist and insurgent threatening the Authorities of Niger State?
FROM KAURE TO KUREBE
Tales of murders, abductions and human rights violations dominate the communities managed by Sadiqu and his loyalists. On April 27, Abubakar Bello, the Niger State Governor, confirmed the hoisting of the Boko Haram flag in Kaure, Sadiqu’s headquarters in Shiroro.
The governor revealed how the terrorist took the ladies of some residents and gave them to his boys.
“I’m confirming that there are Boko Haram components right here in Niger State,” he mentioned. “Right here in Kaure, I’m confirming that they’ve hoisted their flags. Their wives have been seized from them and forcefully connected to Boko Haram members.
“I simply heard that they’ve positioned their flags at Kaure, which means they’ve taken over the territory. That is what I’ve been partaking the Federal Authorities on. Sadly, it has now acquired to this degree. If care is just not taken, even Abuja is just not secure.”
Following the governor’s public outcry, a contingent of troopers stormed Kaure group to dislodge Sadiqu and his fighters.
“Sadly, it was only a army operation to dislodge the terrorists. A army base was not established locally,” a supply informed FIJ. “So, after every little thing, the terrorists reconvened in Kurebe, a close-by village, and established one other Boko Haram headquarters in Shiroro.”
STARTED AS A MISSIONARY, NOW AN INSURGENT
In line with a number of accounts of locals within the communities, Sadiqu began by preaching to residents within the Lakma axis, particularly within the Kaure space. He enjoined them to embrace Islamic jurisprudence and “concern Allah”.
“At a degree, he was going round as a missionary and other people had been even attending to imagine him,” mentioned a youth chief in one of many communities. “It was later that he began utilizing pressure. So, his boys began carrying weapons.”
KNOWN BUT FACELESS
Nearly all people within the 25 communities managed by Sadiqu is aware of him however “no person dares receive his image or describe how he appears to an alien within the space”.
Residents who confided in FIJ mentioned Sadiqu is taken into account a sacred human whose face or bodily look should not be within the public area. Furthermore, taking or displaying photos is forbidden within the terrorist’s territories.
“He has made himself the constituted authority a lot that in case you have a case to settle, you go to him as an alternative of going to the court docket or the police,” one of many locals mentioned. “Even should you’re coming to his neighborhood, you can not include a cellphone or a digicam as a result of his boys will search you from checkpoint to checkpoint. No one has any picture of Mallam Sadiqu in the meanwhile.”
“Anybody seen taking photos in his territory could possibly be killed,” one other native added. “It’s seen as a harmful offence right here.”
TEARS OF A PEOPLE
Residents underneath Sadiqu’s management are grieving however they dare not shed tears. An try to report Sadiqu’s atrocities attracts extreme punishment. Anybody who tries it could possibly be stoned to dying, in accordance with a number of accounts of locals.
“You may think about telling uneducated individuals how the federal government has deserted them and the way they (the terrorists) are there to struggle the federal government for them. They’re brainwashing the individuals and that could be a hazard,” a involved Shiroro youth informed FIJ.
“We solely hope the federal government can take again these communities from this harmful man.”
The Niger State Authorities is conscious of the presence of Sadiqu and his males. However the governor mentioned he’s helpless.
Suleiman Chukuba, Chairman of Shiroro Native Authorities, confirmed the inflow of Boko Haram components, saying, “Solely 4 wards have been affected.”
He mentioned the residents know from their mode of preaching that they’re Boko Haram components.
“They informed villagers that that they had cash to assist them and that that they had weapons to provide them to struggle the federal government. And that’s the identical doctrine we all know Boko Haram components promote,” he mentioned.
