Accounts from fresh escapees from the captured town of Bama in Borno State reveal how the Boko Haram insurgents rule those trapped in the town with an iron fist, including sentencing many harmless residents to jail for not complying with imposed Sharia Law.
According to some escaped residents of Bama, who made it to Maiduguri early this week, the insurgents had taken over most of the public infrastructure, including the Emir of Bama’s palace as well as the police station and prison facility, where they send those who incurred their wraths to goal.
LEADERSHIP learnt that the insurgents had sustained their onslaught on the residents, especially the male folk whom they summarily slaughter or shoot dead if they notice any resistance or unwillingness to join their jihadist army.
A top civil servant in Borno State, who pleaded for anonymity in this report to safeguard the remaining members of his family still trapped in Bama town, said he lost contact with his wife and children for over 50 days after the insurgents captured the town.
He said his wife and children were detained in Bama prison for weeks until he had to cough out N25, 000 as bail fee to secure their release.
“Though my wife has finally regained her freedom after I paid for her bail, three of my children are still in Bama. It was like a dream when I finally saw my wife. All these days, I have been living in anguish,” he said.
On how he got his wife released, he said that“a certain woman told me that my family members were still alive. She assured that if I gave N25,000 for the insurgents, they would release my wife. I gave a trial and she brought my wife to Maiduguri. The woman said that was the fee people paid to get released from the Boko Haram prison.”
A woman who also escaped Bama and arrived in Maiduguri on foot said there were thousands of people still living in Bama, and that they could not escape because the sect had placed stringent laws and punishment in place for arrested escapees.
“The Bama prison has been taken over by the Boko Haram insurgents and they have kept hundreds of people there,” said the middle-aged woman who said her name was Amina Bukar.
She said due to the large number of persons being detained after instant trials in the Boko Haram courts, even the Bama prison facility could not accommodate inmates, forcing the insurgents to convert some of the bigger houses deserted by their owners into makeshift prisons.
“Many bigger houses are also being used as detention cells by the insurgents. In a day, they give beans, palm oil and salt to each house where people are kept as prisoners. They have broken all the shops in Bama and stolen the contents. About a month ago, a measure of rice (enough to feed four people) was sold at N1,000 and when the one in the stores finished, the sale stopped. Water is very scarce; sometimes you stay in the queue for 24 hours,” she said.
Amina also revealed that after she managed to escape at night, she could not navigate her way to Maiduguri and had to wander about in the bush for five days before she finally made it to Maiduguri.
Source: Leadership
