Special Report (Investigative Journalism): Boko Haram Threaten Nomadic Shuwa Arabs Into Being Endangered Species In The Lake Chad Region
By Umar Bakari
23rd August, 2022
Nomadic Shuwa Arab communities are among the worst hit by the 13-year old Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad region, forcing most of them out of their ancestral homes, disposing them of their belongings and killing most of their cattle, sheep and goats.
A herd of cattle was ambling through a field one afternoon when a group of Boko Haram militants stormed in and began firing. The rebels suddenly made off with an estimated 300 cattle, forcing the herders who were looking after the animals to flee for their lives.
In Mashimari village, a community in Konduga Local Government Area (LGA) of central Borno, livestock belonging to displaced Shuwa Arabs people are frequently rustled. A 65-year-old resident of the community, Bulama Adam relates the tale and remarks, “What has happened to us is really heavy.” Shuwa Arabs, also known as ‘Baggara’, are of Arab ancestry and speak a variety of Arabic language. Most of them are nomadic livestock herders who may be found
in the areas of the Lake Chad region that have been devastated by the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency.
For the community, this incidence meant life has ended going forward. Bulama Adam recalls a good prior existence. “Nothing was previously stronger than our capacity for life”, he said. He grew up in Gabari hamlet of Bama LGA and nostalgically remembered how they used to have abundant livestock and many grain reserves in numerous underground storage pits. It was a time when the resources that determine how people live comfortably were readily available. According to him, “We had tens of thousands of bags of food; nothing was too much for us.”
Bulama Adam and his family had enough to take care of their own needs as well as those of others. However, they were currently in a difficult situation and must deal with extreme hunger. Bulama Adam’s family made the decision to leave Gabari hamlet seven years ago, taking over a thousand sheep and goats along with 513 cattle. They initially coexisted with the Boko Haram insurgents despite their strict regulations up until a relative was shot and murdered for smoking cigarette.
For a while, they sought safety in the neighbouring Republic of Cameroon. After being instructed to return to Nigeria, they went back to the border town of Banki. The new location, though, was also dangerous; a Bulama was slain there, and the rebels took more than 200 cattle.
Later, after soldiers stationed at Banki informed them that they could not guarantee their safety due to the threat posed by the dreaded Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold being in their proximity, Bulama Adam and his family made their way to the main town of Bama. Since the Islamic West African Province (ISWAP) took control of the forest in 2021, the security situation in the local government region has changed.
They had to move to Konduga on foot with their animals after receiving instructions from the soldiers because the path to safety did not end in Bama. “We were unaware of this location”, Bulama Adam says. “The troops took us and instructed us to remain. We chose Cameroon, but it was Cameroon that drove us out,” he recalls, sitting on a mat spread inside a circular thatched building.
Over two million people have been displaced because of the insurgency, and several communities in the Nigerian side of the Lake Chad region have either been abandoned or destroyed. These displaced people take refuge in government-run IDP camps or places like Mashimari, where they deal with the everyday suffering brought on by the conflict. Bulama Adam discusses the change from his previous state and the difficulties he is currently facing in this way. He receives food assistance each month in addition to farm products. From what was left of the family’s herd, he still has three cattle.
Another Shuwa Arab man, Abdullahi Alhaji Kosheri, who could speak some English; thanks to bits of English he learned when he engaged in trading in the southern regions of Nigeria, had a similar experience. He too left his town of Doguno seven years ago owing to tales of herders being slaughtered and livestock being rustled, making his way from Banki to Cameroon to Nigeria.
The 60-year-old father of 12 children and husband to two wives claims that things were going well before Boko Haram. He had enough food for a year, thanks to his annual crop of 70 sacks of grains. He could sell one of his 70 animals if there was a need. He said that after running to Banki, someone warned them to depart for Cameroon since it was unsafe to remain there.
However, the situation quickly deteriorated when a bomb went off in Jakana, a town along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road. The locals responded by ordering the military to remove them (Abdullahi Alhaji Kosheri and his family) from the town. “We don’t want to see Nigerians; they brought these things here,” the locals said to their women who sold milk at the market, alluding to the Boko Haram threat.
They travelled to Banki, but the lack of good security there was due to Boko Haram’s proximity and their threat to seize the animals. They then trekked a considerable distance with their cattle before spending the night in Darul Jamal. Later, they travelled with a military escort to Soye, then Bama, before arriving at their current home in Konduga.
Mysteriously, their cattle started to disappear. “We came here, let our cattle graze, and then we left. The animals were kidnapped in this manner: today 100 are taken, tomorrow 200, and the following day 300,” laments Kosheri, another Shuwa Arab man. “There aren’t many animals there anymore”, he further laments.
Kosheri and other members of his community have now begun purchasing sheep, thanks to the food assistance and money made from the sale of firewood, and some have brought cows and resumed raising livestock. He was able to purchase two sheep with the money he made selling firewood, and those sheep gave birth, increasing his animal population to seven.
Saleh Muhammad, 45, had cattle that were stolen by Boko Haram rebels. The military were notified, and a pursuit to retrieve the herd ensued. He watched them vanish with regret as the rebels crossed a river. The ten-child father relies on selling firewood and receiving help each month. He stays away from insurgent-infested areas because “Several people have been killed fetching firewood,” he says. The insurgents are notorious for more than just stealing cattle and attacking farmers. They have also slain individuals who were in the forest collecting firewood.
The anecdotes told by the community members centred on how they lost the homes and means of support they had inherited from their ancestors. Originally, from a different area of Doguno, 38-year-old Adam Muhammad used to own 65 cattle and a large number of sheep. The majority of the animals had fled after the troops fired their weapons when he arrived in Banki. The incident frightened the animals, who escaped.
Narrating his ordeal, Bulama Isah Kamsulum told of the day 142 of his cattle were taken almost six years ago. Prior to it, he had additionally lost 26 while travelling to Konduga. He now has the goats and sheep they purchased. The 53-year-old left his Gujjari residence after seeing two persons who were caught trying to flee being punished in front of them. We made the decision to flee at that time as well, and the possibility presented itself. He followed the same paths Kosheri had taken. According to him, Boko Haram deployed four suicide bombers to Mashimari; the most recent was three years ago.
Resistance started to rear its head now. Self-defence groups popularly known as ‘Civilian JTF’ have grown over time to defend localities and support the government’s counterinsurgency efforts. They are made up of volunteers who are armed with assault rifles, pump action, and sticks. Eli Ngaji farmed and raised animals before the conflict. The 50-year-old utilised Dane rifles often used for hunting as part of the early resistance fight in Gabari against Boko Haram.
Eight years ago, he left the neighbourhood because he thought his life was in danger. He decided to leave his family and everything behind for Maiduguri since the situation had gotten too difficult. Then his belongings, including his livestock, were taken away.
Eli Ngaji’s family initially fled to Gamboru Ngala, but subsequently joined him. When they were reunited, he built a shelter in the Konduga IDP Camp because staying in Maiduguri would be difficult due to the city’s high cost of living. “We are here because of Allah’s grace”, he claims. “Monthly aid is what keeps us all alive. There is no farming here; all people concern themselves with is food.”
Eli Ngaji was among the majority of people who brought animals, but over time, many of them were taken away. The problems faced by the community as a result of losing a significant component of their way of life that had been passed down from generation to generation have increased.
He gestures toward the horizon as he and the Reporter continued to wait for their transportation to take them back to Maiduguri city. He pointed to the area as the location of the Boko Haram rebels’ movements. The road that connects Konduga and Bama is nearby, and there is an unmanned guard station there. The trench, which frequently marks the boundary between areas under government control and those with a greater threat from insurgents, is also nearby.
The project is carrying out under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability Project, an initiative of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), supported by the MacArthur Foundation.
