Dozens of women who were forced to marry Boko
Haram fighters were killed by their “husbands ” before a
battle with troops in Bama, Borno State , witnesses
said yesterday.
Five witnesses who recounted the massacres to French
News Agency AFP said the Islamist militants feared they
would be killed by advancing soldiers or separated from
their wives when they fled the town.
They killed the women to prevent them from
subsequently marrying soldiers or other so -called non -
believers, they added .
“The terrorists said they will not allow their wives to be
married to infidels ,” said Sharifatu Bakura, 39 , a mother
of three .
According to Bakura’ s account , which was supported by
others, Boko Haram fighters received word of a military
assault on Bama, formerly an Islamist stronghold .
The insurgents had decided to flee to the nearby town
of Gwoza before the troops’ arrival but first decided “to
kill their wives so that nobody will remarry them ”, she
said .
Bukara’ s husband was killed by the insurgents four
months ago but she was spared from a forced marriage
because she was visibly pregnant .
Boko Haram forcibly married scores of women in Bama
after seizing it in September . Nigeria ’ s military
announced the recapture of the town on Monday .
Witnesses who were taken under military protection to
Borno ’ s capital Maiduguri, 73 kilometres ( 45 miles )
away , said the killing of women began 10 days before
Bama was liberated .
The Islamists said “if they kill their wives , they would
remain pious until both of them meet again in heaven ,
where they would re -unite ”, said Salma Mahmud,
another witness .
A vigilante who fought alongside the military in the
battle to retake Bama , Abba Kassim, said he saw
“dozens of women corpses ” in the town .
While other witnesses reportedly a similarly high
casualty figure the numbers were impossible to verify.
Fanna Aisami , 52 , also in Maiduguri after escaping
Bama this week , said the executions followed a warning
from Boko Haram ’ s top commander in the town .
“He informed them of the situation and ýthe
consequence of the takeover of the town by the
advancing troops .
“He warned them that when soldiers killed them they
would take their wives back to the society where they
would be forced to marry and live with infidels , ” the
mother of seven said , speaking by phone to AFP in
Kano .
The commander “said it would be better for them to kill
their wives and send them to heaven , ” Aisami added .
A number of women were shot dead in front of the
commander’ s house , she further said .
Yagana Mairambe , 58 , reported similar details but told
AFP that “some Boko Haram men refused ” and fled with
their wives towards neighbouring Yobe state .
Boko Haram insurgents killed at least 20 people in an
attack Thursday on the Borno State town of Gamboru
Ngala , bordering Cameroon.
The raid happened after Chadian forces moved out of
the town , leaving it vulnerable to a reprisal attack,
Hassan Ibrahim , a member of a militia group that fights
alongside government forces, said by phone from Borno
state ’ s capital , Maiduguri . Many residents fled into
Cameroon and Chad , he said .
In Kano , police foiled armed attack and bombing at a
bus station yesterday.
An attacker with a gun and bombs in a bag was
intercepted as he tried to enter a bus station in Kano
and was beaten by a mob that formed before the arrival
of the police , Magaji Musa Majia , a police spokesman in
the city, told reporters.
“We have taken him to the hospital , ” he said .
A witness , Shehu Algoni , told told our correspondent in
Maiduguri on telephone that the insurgents invaded the
town at about 4. 00am on Wednesday night in large
numbers and spread to neighboring communities
slaughtering innocent villagers and setting houses
ablaze .
“We heard them shouting Alllahu Alkabar with heavy
shooting in different directions People started running up
and down for safety. Some fled back to the Cameroon
Republic villages and towns that they earlier took refuge
while others met their untimely death because the
insurgents were just shooting anyhow at people chasing
people away and even setting houses and shops on fire
again as they did in the past ,” Al Goni informed .
He blamed the absence of the military in the area .
“Anti Aircraft guns mounted on some Hilux vehicles , with
large number of Improvised Explosive Devices ( IEDs)
and locally made petrol bombs invaded the communities
and wrecked havoc , before Camerounian troops
responded gallantly and engaged them in exchange of
fire since morning till this afternoon . We have also fled
to Fatakol and hearing exchange of gunshots still from
the town indicating that the Cameroon troops are
engaging the Boko haram insurgents ,” Al Goni said
Hassan Ibi a livestock trader , said he was nearly caught
up in the attack as he left the town the previous day
before the attack on Wednesday night .
“I was there on Tuesday and returned to Fotokol in the
afternoon . We started hearing gunshots again at
about 5 pm and it continued for a long time . Some
Cameroon soldiers at Fotokol told us Boko Haram has
returned to Gamboru though they pursued them . There
was a gun battle with some Cameroon soldiers but
some of the Boko Haram may still be in Gamboru now . “