The Nation Newspaper

Tag: captives

  • Buratai: Liberated Captives And Loud Songs Of Joy From Northern-Borno

    The frequency of good tidings churning out of the Northeast, the former Boko Harm terrorists’ hub and colony these last few weeks and months have elicited tremendous joy in me. From Nigerian troop’s war-war in fierce combats on the battlefield with insurgents, we now hear or read about displaced natives returning back to their ancestral homes in droves jubilantly.

    And months and years in IDPs camps have not been pleasant experiences to the over 2 million people displaced by insurgency. Unless we are direct victims, many cannot fully appreciate how life can be cruel to innocent people sometimes.

    So, Nigerians are living witnesses to the joy of victims returning home, to pick up pieces of their lives from the scratch and from nothingness or completely ruined homes and villages/communities. It calls for celebrations and toasting of glasses of champagne.

    Never before in my entire life, have I experienced a people in such conspiratorial existential predicaments. Yet, they have resolved to rise above personal foibles and circumstances imposed on them by the evil machinations of enemies through insurgency.

    I was soberly disarmed by the sheer determination of Boko Haram victims in the Northeast never to be weakened by the horror and trauma of the insurgency crisis. The resolve to forge ahead with life is very strong for whatever holds meaning unto their lives.

    I heard the Nigerian Army has restored peace and security in the Northeast. But I preferred not to believe it, until I saw IDPs gladly returning back to abandoned homes. And in the last few weeks   alone, IDPs have kept returning to ancestral abodes because troops of “Operation Last Hold” under the Theatre Command, “Operation Lafiya Dole,” intensified raids on remnants of insurgents’ hideouts in clearance operations.

    To tell the rest of us and the world some passionate story, natives of Zari village or the returnees to Mobbar LGA of the state embarked on clearing of ‘kaka’ trees. They felt very free to clear shrubs at their homes on the Damasak-Zari-Gudumbali roads, which insurgents forced them to desert for years.

    Quite pathetically, some of them were sighting their forlorn homes for the first time in several years. I doffed my cap for the COAS and leader of the counter-insurgency operations in the country, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai.  He earned my respect despite negative cacophonic voices in Nigeria against him.

    These series of exciting and positive records on the anti-terrorism war under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari and the current leadership of the Nigerian Military have attracted endless compliments from me.

    But beyond me, it should task our collective spirit of empathy for our fellow brothers and sisters. It ought to leave a void in our hearts, if we fail to at least, step out with a voice in acknowledgment and thankfulness to the victims for their provable abiding faith as stronger than terrorism.

    The returning IDPs in villages around Zari in the Northern part of Borno a few days back  completely stole the joy of my heart. In these hapless Nigerian victims of terrorism, I saw the resilient spirit of the average Nigerian. They were not just happy about their liberation, but also paid very touchy homage to Gen. Buratai and his troops who they know have railroaded their liberation from Boko Haram terrorism.

    I watched the video on my hospital bed in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. And like the electrifying fire of the Holy Ghost as witnessed in many crusades and around the world, life immediately came back into me and I could walk again. I jumped out on my hospital bed in ecstasy, not minding that I still had an intravenous drip on the ankle of my hand.

    Both doctors and nurses on my bedside were quick to caution me. But miraculously, I considered their medication meaningless, because I was instantly healed by the joy of the news.  As a Nigerian, from that part of my country, I have gone through unquantifiable psychological trauma on account of the crisis.

    My very own people were affected. I know how much I spent to give them comfort in IDPs camps. But it never gave them the needed relief because a man severed from his natural habitat for years is perpetually a sad man; no matter the extent anyone tries to placate him. I tried my best to give them basic comfort in camps and bridge the gap.

    If I do not personally visit once in a while, I would send emissaries with endearing messages. But it never pleased any one of them that they no longer have the freedom to extend hearty affections to loved ones, within the family and around the villages.

    Faces of my loved ones assailed me with melancholy and an unexpressed feeling of emptiness. It silently soaked my heart in tears. Their actions once again, pungently and painfully told me, money is not everything to a human being. But freedom and the laxity to savour a life free of inhibitions is priceless.

    I saw my surviving siblings, my cousins, nephews, aged aunties and uncles, weeping uncontrollably at my sight each time I visited. Only a man in my kind of predicament would understand how it feels to have such number of dear ones caged for years, but return back to their traditional abodes. My heart leapt defiantly in explosively blitzed joy. I could not remember I was on a sick bed anymore.

    I must confess, I lost touch with my readers and fans for upward of two weeks or more. I was on a hospital bed in foreign lands, trying to recuperate from an indiscernible ailment. The doctors didn’t even know what was wrong with me, after several laboratory tests and medical diagnosis. But the return of my people to our communities miraculously healed me.

    So, when I opened my mails, it was full to the brim. My fans who read my column on regularly basis continued to bombard my inbox with queries and why I have refused to comment on the news.They accused me of refusing to change my anti-government stance on insecurity, now that the rhythms are positive. They didn’t know, I was too sick to write that time. But now, I have regained my health.

    The excitement was complete, when a video of the returnees amid rapturous shouts of joy and incantations, conspicuously displayed this appreciative appellation; “Kudos to Lt. Gen. TY Buratai and Gallant Nigerian Army for Liberating our Local Government, Guzamala Local Govt,” displayed on buses conveying them back to cherished homes.

    Oh Gracious God! So, these Nigerians still remember to thank the Nigerian Army? The Biblical lesson of one out of the 10 lepers, healed by Jesus Christ flashed on my mind.

    It was just one out of the lepers who came back to give thanks to Almighty God after the healing.   And I was so happy, my people still remembered and acted it. This is what got me extremely excited and became the final healing. I got to return back to Nigeria immediately. All hail Nigerian Army!

    Ainoko former  resident of Maiduguri is now based in Kaduna State.

  • Osinbajo urges Nigerians to pray for captives

    VICE President Yemi Osinbajo has urged Christians to put their hope in God to deliver them from the hands of their enemies.

    He urged them to pray for those in captivity to regain their freedom.

    Speaking at the Cross Concert 2018 to mark the Easter festival in Lagos, Osinbajo said those who called on Jesus Christ in moment of trouble would receive help.

    He added that Christ bore their sins on the cross, calling on Christians to be prayerful and live a pious life.

    The vice president said: “There is a prayer that everybody here usually prays. It is no weapon fashion against you shall proper. And every hand that is raise against you shall not succeed.

    “Why is it that any weapon fashion against you shall not prosper? Why is it difficult for the physical weapon or spiritual weapon to get to you? Why is it that some of the things that had trouble your family line for years, when it get to you, it must stop?  Whether it is sickness or ailment, when it gets to you, it must stop.

    “It is because of the cross. What happened on the cross is so unique. I have heard of people who die for the country, people who die for love and people who die for money. You must understand in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    “He went through a trial. In other words, Jesus Christ was accused of the offences for which you and I committed. He had to admit that he committed them for our sake. That is why no weapon fashion against you shall prosper because Christ has already taken the pain that you and I should experience.

    “The cross is the essence of our own weapon; that is why people can say I belong to Jesus Christ, where ever they found themselves. Everyone who stands by the cross will be delivered because the cross is not fragile. You can do whatever you want to do on it and it will sustain you,” he said.

    Similarly, the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Dr. Babatunde Fowler said Nigerians should pray for the remaining Dapchi School girl, Leah Sharibu for God’s protection.

    He said those who put their hope on the cross are never disappointed, stressing that prayer would perform miracles for her.

    “The cross signifies love, peace and with that the victory of children of God is certain. I, therefore, urge this gathering to spare 30 seconds to pray for Leah and other girls still in captivity for safe delivery from their captors.”

    The orgniser of concert, Rev. Yomi Kasali, said God would strengthen Sharibu for relying on the cross for protection.

    He called on her captors to free the innocent girl, noting that it was against the constitutional imperative to force anybody to accept religion they do not wish to profess.

    He thanked those who graced the concert, noting that the task ahead was to propagate the teaching of Jesus Christ, who died for the salvation of mankind.

  • Captives of liberty

    Some might say the correlation is far-fetched. But the power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has obliterated national boundaries and shrunk our world. Our march of history is now conveyed in contemporary, real-life tempo by agencies of instant communication. When Pope Francis gave his opinion on gay in July 2013, he spoke directly to Justice Anthony Kennedy and his brother justices who formed the majority in the judgement that legalised gay marriage in the US. He also addressed directly such tendencies across the world, some of whom will rule on same-sex (related) suits in the future.

    I fantasised the likes of Justice Anthony Kennedy argue thus:  ”Eh! We are a liberal democracy. This is a holy man who should be the embodiment of the Holy Book saying, practically, there is nothing wrong with being gay. So who are we ordinary mortals to judge, condemn and deny gays marital rights? Even if we were to be sentenced to eternal hell on the Judgement Day, we already possess a plea in mitigation!”

    Here is how the Guardian (UK) reported the dangerous remarks of the pontiff on Monday, June 29, 2013.”Pope Francis says he will not judge priests for being gay.”

    “Pope Francis reached out to gay people on Monday, saying he would not judge priests for their sexual orientation…’ If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?’ Francis asked. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory…”

    The comments of the pontiff, repeatedly broadcast across the world, are branded on my mind. “Is Pope Francis seeking worldly acceptance at the expense of the truth? If an armed robber is full of good works, who am I to judge him?” I knew instantly there would be repercussions, the scale of which I might have underestimated.

    I recall a similar sentiment by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, had attracted my censure some years ago, where I called on him to take the most honourable path by repudiating his leadership of the Anglican Communion. He had even expressed a more sacrilegious opinion in a letter he allegedly wrote before he became the leader of the Anglican Church: ”I concluded that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithfulness.” This was blasphemy writ large!

    According to Pope Francis, ”When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem…they’re our brothers.”

    No, Holy Father. Gays are not our brothers. They become our brothers only if they repent and forsake their evil ways. A gay person lives outside nature, outside the law of God. You cannot continue to be gay and please the Lord, the same way an armed robber cannot continue in his or her criminality and at the same time “accept the Lord and full of good will.”

    By the way, we do not know the exact passage of the Bible or Scriptures that guided the opinion of the pontiff. The Bible is unambiguous on the place of gay, sodomy, lesbianism, etc. Here is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV): ”9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

    If the truth must be told – this is a matter of life and death.  You cannot love the world and simultaneously love God. According to 1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV), ”15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

    The United States Supreme Court ruled on Friday, June 26, that same-sex couples could get married in the country. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who read the lead judgement in the consolidated suit, Obergefell v. Hodges, declared: ”The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity. The petitioners in these cases seek to find that liberty by marrying someone of the same sex and having their marriages deemed lawful on the same terms and conditions as marriages between persons of the opposite sex.”

    This ruling is obscene and debases our shared humanity. It is the very second in the row of notorious liberties in the US that places humanity below the level of animals. The first being the right to kill (the so-called freedom to possess firearms), since it is easier to purchase a gun than buy candies in a supermarket. And so our humanity is continually assailed by captives of liberty, as Americans gun themselves down daily for no just cause. Yes, in the name of liberty!

    Gays are social deviants who ought to live on the fringes of society. At best, they are like those with mental affliction, who should be absorbed in the social homes and rehabilitation centres till their humanity is restored. Gay is obscene and violates human dignity. Therefore, the infamous 5-4 majority decision of the US Supreme Court ought to be reviewed and set aside. All laws banning gay or same-sex behaviour should be upheld. All lovers of humanity must unite to turn the heat on the US. We must not allow America to turn our world upside down.

    And to the likes of Anthony Kennedy, who may wish to rely on an excuse of being misled on the Judgement Day, the Bible – the commandment, the word – is within your reach:

    “11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.”  (Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NKJV))

     

    • Soyombo, public affairs commentator, sent this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com
  • Help for freed Boko Haram captives

    Help for freed Boko Haram captives

    Emotions were mixed when insurgents released 158 captives unconditionally in Yobe State. Why?  The joy of freeedom was undercut by the agony of children still held back by the extremists.  But relief materials donated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) may cheer them up a bit, DUKU JOEL reports

    PERHAPS, the relief materials will cheer them up a bit. When Boko Haram insurgents released some 158 captives in Yobe State, there was probably as much joy as grief. One man, for instance, was happy to have his wife back with some of their children after three weeks, but not all their offspring were set free by the militants.

    That was the picture in Damaturu, the state capital, as the freed captives reunited with their relatives.

    Now, help has come for them. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) some relief materials.

    NEMA Northeast Zonal Coordinator, Mohammed Kanar presented the materials, saying, the intervention was “to compliment the efforts made by the Yobe State government”.

    He praised the state for setting up a good structure which he said will enhance care for victims of disaster in line with NEMA standards.

    Kanar also said that the agency had been directly distributing relief materials to victims of insurgency in the state, pointing out that the agency was ready to assist the state government in identifying the the medical and psychological needs of the victims and how to manage them.

    The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA)  Alhaji Idi Jidawa who received the items on behalf of the state government, thanked the Federal Government for the gesture, assuring that the materials would get to the victims.

    He said,  ”This is the first time that NEMA is making a formal presentation to SEMA for onward distribution to victims of insurgency in the state.”

    Items distributed included bags of rice, noodles, vegetable oil, tomatoes  and cloth, among others.

    The 158 victims comprising 62 adults and 96 children were abducted early January after an attack  on Katarko  community.

    Out of the 62 women, 15 lost their husbands to the attackers.

    It was a pleasant surprise, for  the insurgents were under no apparent pressure. The 158 victims were set free unconditionally, with no apparent physical injuries.

    Most of those released were women and children.

    Sometime in early January, the insurgents launched a heavy attack on Katarko village some 20km away from Damaturu where they killed all able-bodied men on sight and abducted about 200 people mostly women and children.

    After their release on January 24, the eve of President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign visit to Maiduguri, some unconfirmed reports filtered in that government secured their release. Another version had it that the insurgents could not cope with the cost of feeding the women and their children hence the decision to release them unconditionally.

    It was gathered that some of the grownup boys kidnapped along with the women were either killed and dumped in wells or dropped by the roadside. The stories went on until they were freed.

    Most of them had said their last prayers for themselves and their children.

    Fannam Bukar who was abducted with her five children, was freed with three of them while the remaining two are still in the hands of the insurgents.

    “Myself and five of my children were taken away by Boko Haram,” she said amid tears. “I came out with only three of them (pointing at three small girls by her side). My two sons are still with them. My first son is 15 years old and the second one is 13. Only Allah knows what they are going now. I pray that Allah will bring them back safely to me.”

    Another woman, Aisha Dauda, saw her husband brutally murdered by the insurgents before she was whisked away with her three children to a place she described as “a big building” that she had never seen before in her life.

    “On that day when they came to our village,” she said, my husband and I were in the house including my children. When we heard the gunshots; we wanted to run but it was too late. My husband came out of the house and he was surrounded by the Boko Haram boys. One of them put a gun in his head, asking him where he was going to. I was hiding in the room but I could still see what was going on between my husband and the boys. I was praying for his life and the next thing I heard was his head on the ground.”

    As she narrated, Aisha often held her breathe, fighting back tears.

    Were they manhandled? Not quite. Most of the women attested to the fact that they were treated with dignity.

    One of the victims, Fanta Mohammed, said, “To say the truth, they did not maltreat us since they took us away. Throughout the three weeks that we stayed in their camp, they provided us with enough food and drinks. They gave us soap and water to bathe through some small, small boys in the camp. Sometimes they even gave us perfumes to spray on our bodies.

    “Anytime they entered our apartment to preach their ideologies to us, they asked us to avoid looking at them. They will always call us pagans. When they were releasing us, they asked us to prepare and join those pagans in the town.

    “We thank God that we have reunited with our family members after three weeks of being in captivity,” Fanta said.

    Bintu Lawan gave an insight into their release. She said they asked them to decide whether to join their religion or leave to join other pagans outside of their camps.

    “They asked us to join their religion and we told them we will not practice their style of religion. So they agreed to release us, saying we should go and join the pagans who have the symbol of the green-white-green flag in Nigeria, vowing that they will meet with us one day. But we then told them we would rather join the pagans.”

    She added: “They often provided raw food items to us and we cooked them ourselves. They gave us soap, perfume and any other basic needs you can think of. It’s only God that released us from the hands of these dreaded militants,” she said.

    Abdulrahaman Dauda was the first person to receive a call from his friend who sighted the freed victims at a village called Kasaisa near Damaturu. He informed security personnel because his two wives and five children were among the victims.

    Despite his re-unification with his family, his joy was not complete as his two grownup sons were still held by the insurgents.

    “I thank God because today I have my wives and three of my other children back. I am happy I have seen my family again but my two grownup sons are still in the hands of Boko Haram. I only pray that they return safely,” Abdulrahaman said.

    Aisha Dauda said: “I am happy because I came out alive to see my husband and other members of the family. My husband has informed me that two of our children are still missing. We are not sure what happened to them.”

    The freed captives were presented to their families at a ceremony organised by the State Special Committee on Rehabilitation of Victims of Insurgency in the state headed by Mr. Ahmed Mustapha Goniri, a lawyer, who is also the state Commissioner for Justice.

    He said that all the freed victims were in sound health, maintaining that the military Joint Task Force (JTF) in conjunction with his committee and medical experts have examined the mental, psychological, and medical state of the victims.

    The event was also co-organised by the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). Relief materials were presented to the freed victims.

    Goniri during the presentation, said, “Out of the 158 that are freed, 62 are adults and the rest are children of the victims. Of the 62 adults, there are 15 widows among them. The Yobe State government as part of her resolve to cushion the sufferings of the victims has decided to give each of the widows two bags of rice; one bag of sugar; two cartons of noodles, wrappers and N50,000 cash while the remaining will receive the same quantity of items with N30,000.”

    He thanked the parents for their patience during the period the victims were screened by the security operatives.

    The voluntary release of these detainees was the first since the insurgency started in the Northeast six years ago. Over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the insurgents last year were yet to be freed.