My encounter with Boko Haram commander – 70-yr-old man, ‘How I rescued my sons from Boko Haram’
Madu Zaromi: Who told you Mobbar has been liberated? I am from the local government headquarters, Damasak. Boko Haram insurgents stormed Damasak and took it over about one year, four months ago. They killed many of our people and established their presence there until Chadian soldiers drove them away. After waiting for some weeks for Nigerian soldiers to take over, they did not show up so the Chadian soldiers left during last year’s Ramadan. When they left in the morning, that same evening the insurgents returned and killed those they were able to kill and drove away others. Mobbar is now a ghost town.
Our people who ran away to Gagamari, Shetimari and Garin Dogo in Niger Republic told us that in the middle of the night they could sight fire around Mobbar area up to last month. Some Fulani herders told us last week that they passed through Mobbar and no single soul lives there. which Damasak are you saying has been liberated? Were you in Damasak when the Chadian soldiers arrived?
Zaromi: No, I had left then to Niger Republic and from there to Maiduguri before they went there. But I was in Damasak when Boko Haram first took it. One Monday morning, about one year and four months ago, I was sleeping in a mosque close to my house when I heard cries for help. At first I thought they were robbers who invaded the town, but later I realized they were insurgents. My two sons, Bana and Momodu insisted we should leave the village but I said no, let’s go home first.
The sound of the attacks came closer, until an armed insurgent ran into my house and saw me sitting with my sons. I have a total of five children. The first three are females and are all married. Bana was 16 and Momodu was 14 then. When the armed insurgent checked the house and was sure we were the only ones home, he ordered my boys to follow him and I said they were going nowhere. He pointed his gun at me and I insisted they were going nowhere. He went out angrily and almost immediately, about seven insurgents came in. One of them hit me hard on my face and I fell down. By the time I recovered, there was nobody with me. They had left with my children.
On the third day, I managed to go to the mosque for the afternoon prayer but there was nobody in the mosque. The next day when I felt better, I went to the mosque around 1.30pm in the afternoon and called for prayer alone. Few minutes after calling prayer, two men armed with guns came and sat outside the mosque until I prayed and was leaving the mosque then they asked me who permitted me to call prayer. I asked them about my sons, but they did not answer me so I left. They trailed me till I got home. Two days later, an armed young man, maybe in his twenties, was passing greeted me in Kanuri language and I asked him about my children he said he doesn’t know them. He showed concern and promised to help me. The next day, he came with food and water but I refused it. It was the young man who helped me to rescue my children.
How did he help you?
Zaromi: He came the next morning with a motorcycle and took me to the other end of town and pointed to a government building and said when you approach that building, tell anyone who asks you that you want to see the Amir. He is our leader. Tell him what you want. Do not tell anyone that somebody directed you. Your children must be in that building. He turned and left. After being questioned, I met the Amir, who spoke to me very respectfully. I told him everything that had happened and he noticed I was weak and tired. He offered me food but I told him I cannot eat until I see my children. He asked someone to go into the building and bring my them. The man went in and came back to say they weren’t there. He asked me if they were among those brought from Baga or Malamfatori or if they were taken from Damasak. I told them my children were abducted here in Damasak.
The man went back and returned with them, and we all broke into tears, weeping together. The Amir said he would release one to me, and the second one to be enlisted among fighters. I thanked him for letting me see my children and added that I have come to him with only one request, for him to release both my sons. I took the cup of water he earlier offered me and stretched it to Bana. He drank from it and gave to Momodu, who drank and gave me. When I drank the water, I told him that I do not want to die of an empty stomach. I told him that since my sons were abducted, that was the first time anything touched my lips. I begged him to release them or kill me there and keep them. He looked straight into my eyes and after a long pause ordered two of his men to escort us back home. That was how I returned home with my sons.
Did you spend another night in Damasak before leaving?
Zaromi: I was there for over a month before I left. Not because I want to leave, but because of the danger. Two days after they released my sons to me, the Amir visited my house in company of four armed men. He was there for close to an hour. It was during that visit that he told me that they had no plans to attack Damasak because we are prayerful. He said because vigilantes from Damasak were going to places outside Mobbar local government to fight them, they resolved to attack us. He said I and my children should move freely in Damasak because he has directed that his men should not harm us.
Three weeks later, the young man who directed me to the Amir’s place came and told me to go and tell the Amir that I would like to be going to the river to fish. He advised me to be going daily and should make sure we send good fish to the Amir. When we got the permission, we fished daily. On the tenth day, the young man came and told me at home in the evening that when you go fishing tomorrow, cross the river and enter Niger Republic. Make sure you do not come back here as long as we are around. The next day, after catching some fish, we crossed to Niger Republic where we stayed for four months until vehicles were sent to bring us to Maiduguri.
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