'Kareem Haruna's Blog

A-woman-and-her-daughter-after-the-attack-by-Boko-Haram-on--Kawuri-village-in-Borno-State-PHOTO-BY-KAREEM-HARUNA

The Pains And Tears Of Kawuri, A Village Ravaged By Boko Haram

— February 2, 2014

The latest attack on Kawuri village claimed 85 victims, including the chief imam of Kawuri, Imam Mele Kawuri, and destroyed houses and other assets. KAREEM HARUNA who visited the victims, shares their stories

It was a story of pains and divine luck for Rabi Malam, 46, who is presently being treated for secondary degree burns at the hospital after the attacks by Boko Haram insurgents on her village, Kawuri in Konduga local government area, where they set her house on fire.
She alongside her seven-year-old son and a granddaughter aged three were almost burnt alive, just as many others die, when the attacking gunmen wickedly torched her semi-thatched home while she was hiding inside.

For Rabi, whose scalded skin is now peeled off, it was case of choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea, when the attacking gunmen stood outside her home, shooting and waiting for her and her children to attempt to escape, and face a certain death. Rabi, unfortunately, preferred the deep blue sea rather than going out to face the devil outside her home.

“It was about 6pm on that day, when the gunmen came attacking and shooting from all sides; when I and my children ran inside the house for fear of being shot,” Rabi told LEADERSHIP Sunday in obvious agony.

“But they followed us and put fire on the house while still shooting. I and the kids lurked inside at a corner and could not come out, because they were shooting. We were there for hours before they left, thinking we were dead. I covered the children with heavy blanket soaked in water to prevent the fire from burning them, but the fire still burnt us. I cried and begged for mercy, as the two children were calling me to get them out of the heat. But I couldn’t, until the fire began to burn our skins,” she said,
Rabi, who could not bear the wailing of the children, said she had to break through the raging fire to come outside. She was very lucky the attackers had left to the other side of the village, still shooting and torching houses on their way.

She was badly scalded, with burns all over her body. Her children suffered less burns because of her motherly efforts to cosset them from the fire.
Rabi was not the only one that suffered; there were 35 others also admitted at the Konduga General Hospital, receiving treatment for various degrees of burns.
According to the secretary of Konduga local government, who spoke while briefing the state Governor, Kashim Shettima, about six persons were burnt beyond recognition and were buried as unknown persons.
Tears flowed freely at the hospital wards when Governor Shettima visited the town on the second day. The state chief executive and many others could not stand the sight of a badly burnt 70-year-old man, who was grunting in pains as medics attended to his now exposed red flesh.
Handkerchiefs were soaked wet when a 12-year-old boy, whose skin had peeled off from head to toes, was screaming “Pour cold water on me, it is hot, it is hot. Mama, why am I being allowed to suffer? I will soon die, I will soon die”, as nurses attended to his blood-dripped body.
Nurses at the female ward of the hospital could not control the wailing of a burnt baby, whose parents were killed during the attack.
Residents of Kawuri, a quiet village that is famous for its Sunday market which attracts commerce from around Maiduguri and environs, all had different gory tales of killings, slaughter and torture that they all suffered in the hands of the Boko Haram terrorists on that ill-fated day.
The councillor of Kawuri ward, Dala Lawan, said 85 persons, killed by either bullets, fire or practically slaughtered, have been buried. “We still could not account for 16 persons, mostly women and children,” he said. “We have 35 badly injured persons in Konduga General Hospital, six are in Bama General Hospital, and another 10 with worst cases were taken to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
The Boko Haram gunmen, who were busy chanting “Allahu-Akbar, Allahu-Akbar” (God is great, God is great) as they unleashed hell on the hapless villagers, ironically burnt down five major mosques, including the Central Mosque in the village.

According to Lawan Musa, the chairman of Civilian-JTF in Kawuri village, one of the first victims of the attack was the Chief Imam of Kawuri, Imam Mele Kawuri, who was slaughtered in front of the mosque by a Boko Haram member, whom the Imam had brought up since when he was a child.
“The young man that killed Imam Mele was once a Quran pupil of the Imam. He suddenly disappeared for sometime, only to show up during the attack. He led the group of gunmen to the Imam at the mosque where he asked some of his men to tie down the Imam; then he asked him if he recognised his face, and the Imam said yes. Then, he put his knife on his throat and slit it. He may have killed the Imam because the old man had openly preached against the activities of the Boko Haram,” he said.

Another young Boko Haram gunman, about 17 years old, shot dead his grandfather whom he was named after. “The old man who so much loved the boy because he was his name sake brought him up and gave him all that he wanted. But he came and shot him dead because the grandfather was not happy with his relationship with the Boko Haram”, he added.

Three days before the Kawuri attack, LEADERSHIP Sunday was told of a mother of a set of twins in Alau village, about 30 kilometres away from Kawuri, who was burnt together with her babies barely a week after they were delivered.

“The Boko Haram gunmen came in at night and asked the nursing mother the whereabouts of her husband, who was away when she was delivered of the twins. The woman told them the truth that her husband had travelled, and in anger, they closed the door on her and set the house on fire. She and her set of twins were burnt to ashes. The twins had not been even given names before they were killed”.
The recent attacks on hapless civilians, especially in villages dotted around some 40 kilometres radius of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, had sent residents in about 32 villages and settlements fleeing.

In Kawuri, a couple was seen standing by the roadside with few packed sacks containing their belongings.
The husband, Abdullahi Maidusa, 35, said, “I got married to my young wife here just some months back, but now, we lost everything we had, including our home when the gunmen attacked on Sunday evening. We spent the last two days in the bush. Now, I am sending her to her parents because it is safer there.”
The couple had no money to foot their bills for transport, until a good Samaritan offered N500 to convey them to Maiduguri.

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, in an emotionally drenched voice sympathised with the victims of the worst attack so far this year, as he offered to rebuild every destroyed and burnt houses. He had also presented two trucks of food items to the people, and also offered the sum of N250,000 to each family of the 85 dead victims.

Governor Shettima was almost shouting at the top of his voice in anger when he said, “No one would say this is Islam or religious worship. There is no place in the holy books of Islam where it is sanctioned that one should take the life of his fellow human. This is evil, this is purely a satanic cause being championed by ignorant minds who know nothing other than standing the words of God on their heads to deceive the gullible minds and wreak-havoc. If our laws do not catch up with them, definitely God will.”

Boko Haram’s belief that their cause has been holy; perhaps maiming, killing, and burning alive women and children, was what makes the cause of their so-called Jihad tick.
In recent attacks that occurred within the last 14 days, more than 250 people have been killed in the region.

Stay up to date, follow us on Twitter; @LeadershipNGA