After narrowly surviving bloody attacks launched by members of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, many young men from the northern part of the country, Borno State in particular, are, unfortunately, . meeting their untimely deaths working at illegal gold mines in Mali and Algeria. Investigation revealed that in an instance of jumping from the proverbial frying pan to fire, many of the survivors are being conscripted by mindless terrorists in Mali who are radicalising and exposing them to advanced guerilla warfare. There are fears that the ugly development could worsen the challenge of insurgency in the region and spell doom for the country at large as the impoverished and radicalised migrants return home seething with anger, INNOCENT DURU reports.
• ‘How terrorists in Mali drafted Nigerians into deadly groups’
• Snakes, scorpions made our lives miserable, says survivor
Hammed, an indigene of Bama Local Government Area, Borno State, watched in disbelief as his kinsmen were shot or hacked to death by murderous insurgents.
Besides witnessing the ugly sights, he at various times had escaped being killed by Boko Haram members. Hammed said his heart is riddled with scars and his memory battered by the thought of the killings.
“It was a terrible experience. It is better imagined than experienced. I was not told; I witnessed the orgy of killings first hand,” he said.
Traumatised by his horrendous experiences, Hammed managed to raise money to go to Algeria as he had lost everything he had to the bloody attacks by Boko Haram insurgents.
The road to Algeria was not a familiar route for the 24-year-old. But desperate to save his head and get a means of livelihood, he headed in that unfamiliar terrain.
But his resolve was not without consequences as he was made to pay dearly for his naivety.
Hammed said: “I spent about 10 days instead of five or six before getting to Algeria because I didn’t know my way.
“The driver defrauded me of the money I had on me. It was some kind-hearted drivers that helped me to get to Algeria.”
On arriving in the North African country, Hammed heaved a sigh of relief and looked forward to getting a job to recoup the losses he had suffered. And his efforts seemed to pay off as within a short time after he arrived the North African country, he had made enough connections to start securing jobs.
“I was getting between N5,000 and N10,000 per day working at the gold mine. Out of that, I was spending about N3,000 on food every day,” he said.
Excited by his new status, Hammed quickly put behind the days of pains and deprivation occasioned by Boko Haram attacks. His joy was, however, short-lived by an ugly experience similar to the one that had driven him away from his fatherland.
Hammed said: “The security agents in Algeria were hostile. When they caught me, they beat me mercilessly.
“After that bitter experience, one of my brothers was killed by terrorists. They killed him because they wanted gold from him but they couldn’t get any. It was a regular occurrence in that axis.”
Worried by his unpleasant experiences, he said he had to return to Nigeria, “because I could not afford to survive there.
“I was making money there but the suffering was too much. I was sleeping inside the bush and on rocks.
“The weather in Algeria was also too cold. There were even times that snow fell. This affected me seriously.
“When I came back, I met a physician who prescribed some drugs for me. That was the saving grace.”
Umar, a father of nine, had a worse experience in Mali where he had travelled to in search of survival after his business was crashed by the menace of insurgency.
His words: “I used to sell second hand materials. On many occasions, I had to abandon my wares and flee when Boko Haram insurgents attacked our place. I lost my capital in the process.
“I subsequently left for Mali and stayed in Haruwa, which shares a border with Algeria. I was engaged there as a labourer.
“We were going from Mali to work in Algeria and return in the evening.
“Besides being a labourer, I also worked in a place where they were mining gold. But the work there did not come all the time.
“At times we could stay idle for weeks before getting a job.
“As a family man, it was not easy for me to be idle. That was why I was going to Algeria to work as a labourer.”
But he said his experience in Mali was far from rosy.
Umar said: “Terrorists used to come with their guns to attack us. They would collect our gold and beat us. They would also collect the water we were using. Some people would die before getting to Haruwa where we used to gather.
“The terrorists did shoot at us too. There was a day they shot one of us from Zamfara in the neck. We could not go close to him instantly to avoid being shot too.
“Thereafter, we did all we could to save his life but he died and we went to bury him in Haruwa.
“We had worked for more than teo months at the place where they shot the guy, but when the terrorists came, they searched us and collected all the gold.”
“Personally,” he said, “I sustained injury twice at the hands of the terrorists. One hit my head against the rock that we were digging and I started bleeding.
“Another came and hit my head with his gun. They attacked me because they didn’t see a phone on me when they searched me.”
For Abba, who hails from Jere Local Government Area of the state, his unpleasant experience had nothing to do with terrorists or any form of exploitation; it came from snakes and scorpions that made life unbearable for him and his colleagues. In fact, he said he lost some of his colleagues to snakebites.
He said: “Some of them survived while some others died.
“Two of my friends were among those that died of snakebites and we buried them right there because they would not allow black people to go and bury their persons in the city.”
He noted that the suffering in the area was more than he could bear, adding: “We were not having a decent place to sleep. We were sleeping on rocks, in the bush and open places.
“In those places where we slept, there were snakes, scorpions and other dangerous reptiles. I killed some snakes at night. I heard their sound and killed them.
“It was not possible to sleep soundly in that place.”
Recalling his stay in Algeria, Abba said: “I never went to the main area where mining was taking place because there was serious insecurity there.
“The terrorists are well armed and would force you to accept their agenda if you go there. They will force you to mine gold and give you money.
“One of my friends went to the place and told me what was happening there. The terrorists were occupying the territory between Algeria and Mali.
“I still have friends in Algeria and Mali too. They are mining gold in those places.”
Recalling how insurgency ruined his business and consequently forced him to embark on the tortuous journey, Abba said: “I had a small business that was paying my bills before the Boko Haram attacks that shattered our place. Most of my family members in Gamboru Ngala were affected.
“I had friends in Algeria and they were the ones who asked me to come over because nothing was there for me in Maiduguri. I had to go to Algeria to find a means of earning a living.”
To travel to Algeria, Abba said he had to borrow money from friends and family members, adding that the journey was by road.
He said: “The journey to Algeria lasted almost six days. And for those six days, I was eating just cake and zobo. Sometimes we would buy soft drinks and any other edible.
“Armed robbers were on the road. They were operating in that axis.
“I stayed in Algeria for about five months. I was mining gold in Algeria together with other people.
“I came back home because I found it difficult to survive in that area. I came back with about N100,000 out of which I spent about N80,000 on transportation.
“On return, I had just N20,000 left on me after spending five months in Algeria. I have been idle since I came back.”
More survivors relive ordeal Long after returning home, Mohammed, a native of Jere Local Government, is still hounded by his experience in Mali.
“I didn’t enjoy my stay in Mali,” he said as he cast his mind back to his days in the West African country. “I was living and working among terrorists and regular people.
“I was seeing the terrorists with my naked eyes. They were always armed to the teeth.”
Going down memory lane, he said: “There was a day I was going from Mali to Algeria and I fell into the hands of some cruel terrorists. They pointed guns at me and collected my phone.
“Every day comes with its own kind of suffering. The terrorists raided us and collected our money, phone and gold at regular intervals without any opposition.”
It was also an unsavoury experience for Usman, a native of Gombe resident in Maiduguri. Like others, the father of eight children said he was into gold mining and labourer jobs in Guza area of Mali.
“I had encounters with terrorists in Mali,” he said, shuddering as he tried to verbally paint a graphic picture.
“They looked unapproachable and always in killer mood. They used to flog us from time to time, inflicting injuries on us. I was beaten by the terrorists about three or four times.
“Sometimes, you would work for them for months without being paid.
“The terrorists and the regular people in the area work hand in hand. Sometimes you cannot differentiate between a terrorist and a regular person.
“Working for someone, you may not know that he is a terrorist. It is after completing the work that he will tell you who he is and that he will not pay you.
“When that happens, there is nothing you can do about it.”
Returnee’s incredible journey to Saudi Arabia
Among the returnees encountered by our correspondent, a young man named Ali appeared to have had the worst travelling experience, considering how long it took him to arrive at his destination.
Ali said: “I spent more than two months to get to Saudi Arabia.
“I had no money when I escaped from Borno State. I would always look for something to do to earn a living in each place I settled down.
“There were periods I trekked for three to four days in the course of the journey. I will never forget the experience in my life. One person died in the c ourse of the journey as a result of exhaustion.”
Recalling how he went about the journey, he said: “I passed through Maiduguri to Gamboru Ngala. From there, I entered Cameroon and found my way to Chad where I had issues with their army. They kept me there for 11 days.
“From there, I entered Sudan where I spent 21 days helping people to build and getting money to feed. Daily wage in Sudan was just N400.
“There in Sudan, I got to a river where I met many people heading to Saudi Arabia in a ship. We entered Saudi Arabia three days after.”
“In Saudi Arabia,” Ali said, “I was into tailoring. I was sending money to my mother in Maiduguri from there.
“I didn’t have a resident permit in Saudi, and they were seeing me as an animal. Whenever I walked up to someone, he would ask if I had a resident permit. If I said no, he would ask how I managed to enter the country.
“At such moments, I would just walk away.
“I came back in 2019 after the police caught me. They returned over 400 of us from different parts of the north to Kano.”
How terrorists bait, conscript survivors into deadly gangs
Some of the migrants, it was learnt, have been joining terrorist groups, especially in Mali. They are being baited with gifts and money by the terrorists to join them.
Umar shared his experience thus: “During Ramadan period, some terrorists came to where we were with their guns and gave us milk, drinks, chicken and so many other things. We really enjoyed ourselves on that day.
“They later came back in the night and said if we were ready, we should join them and that we would not have any problem since we were Muslims and they too were Muslims. They even promised to give us money.
“We immediately accepted to join them because we were scared that something nasty might happen if we should say no.
“If you see those terrorists, you will be scared. They wear long beard and brandish guns. They don’t have any fear in them at all.
“When we said yes, they left. Before dawn, we packed our things and left the work and the entire area before they could come and meet us.”
Umar, however, noted with regret that “some of our people from Zamfara are joining the terrorists. It is a very, very serious development.”
Hosts mix drinking water with petrol
Asked what manner of water they were drinking in the Mali desert, Umar said: “We had no good water for drinking. Sometimes when they bring 200 litres of water, they will mix it with four litres of petrol so that we will not drink much water.
“They feel that if they don’t do that, we would finish the water in no time. All we were doing was just to sip the water and walk away. With that, the water will last for about a week.
“It was not good but there was no alternative. We were many there: Nigerians, Nigeriens, Cameroonians, and so on.
“My mother asked me not to go there again, but I told her that nobody will assist her and my family if I don’t go. I must go.”
Explaining how he went to Mali, Umar said: “One of my friends helped me to go to Mali when I complained that I was not making anything from the transport business I ventured into after losing my business to Boko Haram.
“He lent me N100,000 and connected me to his friend that led me to Mali. I gave N20,000 to my family and left with the remaining.”
On how he paid back the loan, the returnee said: “I worked in Mali for six months and paid back the money. I also tried to go back to my business here in Maiduguri but I couldn’t make it.
“I subsequently returned to Mali and spent four months there. During that period, I was told that my wife had put to bed.
“I planned to come for the naming ceremony but I spent about 10 days on the road, and before I arrived, the naming ceremony had taken place.
“I tried doing business again but it wasn’t working. I went back to Mali the third time. I am planning to go back because I am financially down.”
Immigration officials, terrorists exploit migrants
Besides the dehumanisation they suffered, the returnees also spoke of how they were recklessly exploited by Nigerian Immigration officials at the border as well as terrorists in the host countries.
Reliving his experience with immigration officials, Abba said: “The immigration and others were aware of our going to Algeria because we cross from the border.
“They are aware that people are going to Niger, Algeria and Mali. They know, because they collected money from us. They were collecting N10,000 from each passenger because we didn’t have travel documents.
“They were collecting the money before allowing anyone to cross into Niger. Once you paid the money, they would allow you to cross.
“They didn’t collect any money from me when I was coming back, because I am a Nigerian returning to my country.”
Also speaking about his experience in Mali, Umar said: “When you get to Haruwa in Mali, the driver will go to a garage where they will count us and ask each person to pay about 500 cefas. Once you pay, they will allow you in.
“After that, you will pay 400 denar, which is equivalent of N12,000 here, monthly.
“If you don’t have money to pay, they will take and keep you in one place. When people in need of labourers come, they will ask the defaulters to go and work for them.
“When payment is made, they will deduct the 400 denar and give you the balance.
“Some will not even give you a dime. You can work for two months and the only thing you will be getting is food.
“They will subject you to hard work and, unfortunately, there is nowhere to rest because the whole place is a desert.”
Returnees heading back to deadly zone
In spite of the horrible experiences they had in Mali and Algeria, many of the returnees are bent on returning to the two countries.
Umar said: “I am afraid of the beating and killing over there, but because I do get money here, that is why I want to go back.
“I have nine children. Five of them were in a private school around Mammy Market, but because I couldn’t pay their school fees, they have been at home.
“I am not happy that they are not in school. When I was in Mali, I used to send their school fees and money for upkeep.
“I want to sacrifice myself for them. Whatever I get, I will be sending to them so that they can go back to school.
“They have spent about two terms at home. They are temporarily attending one Islamiyya school where they only give them Quranic education.
“I want to see them become nurses and doctors.”
Speaking in the same vein, Mohammed said: “I want to go back to Mali in spite of the challenges, because I can hardly earn a living here. I want to go back to Mali because there is no work here in Nigeria.”
Usman, another Nigerian planning to return to Mali, said: “I could make 1,000 cefas or more in a day in Mali. I am planning to go back because I am not making money here in Maiduguri.”
Returnees came back sick, malnourished
The predicaments of the returnees were condemned by the Executive Director of BOAID Foundation, Alhaji Ammar Gambo, who has been engaging them since their return.
He said: “The journey of irregular migration from Maiduguri to Mali for illegal gold mining poses several dangers to the youths and the community.
“These dangers include physical harm and violence. The journey involves crossing several borders, and the migrants are vulnerable to physical harm and violence from smugglers, traffickers, and even authorities. Many migrants have reported being robbed or beaten on their journey.
“The migrants are exposed to diseases as they often travel in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, which increase their risk of contracting cholera, tuberculosis and other diseases.
“The journey is often long and arduous, and many migrants lack adequate food and water, leading to malnutrition and starvation.”
Gambo noted that BOAID Foundation, through its sensitization programme, had reached more than 6,704 individuals across the state from last year to date. However, he said the situation has escalated to more communities in Maiduguri and Jere.
He said: “The communities affected are Goni Kachalari, Allah Kareem, Mashamari, Konan Yobe, London Ciki, Dikechiri, Gwange I and II, Kasuwan Shanu, all in Maiduguri and Jere LGAs.
“These communities are known for their high poverty rate and lack of employment opportunities, making them susceptible to illegal migration.
“BOAID has been at the forefront of sensitising the public on the dangers of irregular migration.
“Through its sensitization programmes, BOAID has been able to educate the public on the need to engage in legitimate business and avoid irregugar migration.”
Gambo said from January to date, about 157 individuals had migrated irregularly to Mali and Algeria. He said the individuals involved are mostly youths who are lured by the promise of wealth through illegal gold mining.
He said: “They are often deceived by agents who promise them easy entry into these countries and job opportunities in the mining sector.
“However, the reality is different, as most of these individuals end up living in deplorable conditions and working in hazardous environments.
“Recently, the organisation received a report that 20 migrants voluntarily returned from Mali to Ngala Local Government Area.
“The individuals narrated their ordeal, stating that they were living in deplorable conditions, and their lives were at risk due to dangerous mining activities.”
He said the situation of irregular migrants from Maiduguri to Mali for illegal gold mining is a growing concern that needs urgent attention.
Gambo added: “BOAID’s efforts in sensitising the public on the dangers of illegal migration are commendable. However, more needs to be done to create employment opportunities and reduce poverty in the affected communities.
“The government and other stakeholders should collaborate to address the root causes of illegal migration and provide viable alternatives for the youths.”
Fears over escalation of insurgency
An expert in International Relations, Defence and Security, Dr Bala Husaini, expressed concern about the implications of the radicalised returnees for the challenge of insecurity in the country.
His words: “The problem of Nigeria is that we don’t monitor anything. Once these people are not properly reintegrated into the community by the government, they will become nuisance to the society.
“They will instill fear in the minds of the people, because the news will spread that these particular people have become this and that.
“Some of them recruited into these mercenaries will also fight back against the government of Nigeria.
“Apart from this set of people, there are some security officials that have been sent away from the service. Think of what they will be in the future, because they know how to shoot guns and manoeuvre. They know all those technicalities and tactics of war.
“Now you say you don’t want them anymore and there is no remorse from the government that they will put ABC in place to avoid unwanted move in the future.”
Speaking on the way out, the Umaru Musa Yaradua University lecturer said: “The Nigerian government does not have the political will to stop them from going to those places.
“What they should do is sensitise those who have no interest in going, because only God knows what tomorrow will bring.
We’ll investigate allegations – Nigeria Immigration Service
The Nigeria Immigration Service says it will investigate the allegation of bribe collection levelled by returnees against its officials.
Responding to our inquiry, the spokesman, Tony Akuneme, said: “People are free to migrate as long as it is done legally.”
Told that the migrants were moving with official documents and paying bribe to have easy passage, he said: “Really? I will investigate it. I am not aware of this. I will investigate it.”