How Boko Haram terrorists rule with force, imprison helpless residents in Bama

How Boko Haram terrorists rule with force, imprison helpless  residents in Bama

By Blogger

(Leadership Newspaper. - Oct 22, 2014)  

Tales being told by fresh escapees from the captured town of Bama revealed how the Boko Haram terrorists are ruling those trapped in the town with iron fist even as they have sentenced 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 infrastructures including the Emir of Bama’s palace as well as the police station and prison facility where they send those who incured their wraths to gaol. 

This Blogger was informed that the insurgents had sustained their onslaught on the residents, especially the male folks whom they summarily slaughter or shot dead if they noticed any resistance or unwillingness to join their army as jihadists. 

A top Borno state civil servant, who pleaded anonymity in this report to safe guard the rest members of his family still held in Bama town said he had lost contact with his wife and children for over 50 days since the insurgents captured Bama 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 freedom after I had 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, the senior civil servant said “a certain woman told me that my family members were still alive. She assured that if I give N25,000 ($150)  for the insurgents, they would release my wife. I gave a trial and just like a joke she brought my wife to Maiduguri. The woman said that was the fee people pay to get released from the Boko Haram prison”. 

A woman who also escaped Bama and arrived Maiduguri on foot said there are  thousands of people still living in Bama, and they could not escape because the Boko Haram placed stringent law and punishment 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 age woman who said her name was Amina Bukar.

She said due to the large number of persons being detained after brief trials in the Boko Haram courts, even the Bama prison facility could not accommodate inmates, hence the insurgents converted 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 for each house where people are kept prisoners. They have broken all the shops in Bama and carted away 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 stores finished, the selling stops. Water is very scarce, sometimes you stay in the queue for 24 hours,” she said. 

Amina said after she had managed to escape at night, she could not navigate her way to Maiduguri as she had to wander in the bush for five days before she finally  got to Maiduguri.