Juliana Francis
This is the haunting story of two brothers, withdrawn from school by their father and forced to join one of the deadest terrorist groups in Nigeria
The brothers, Saidu Aminu and Mustapha Aminu, said their father forced them into the group, automatically making them enemies of the state.
The brothers are part of the nine members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan, otherwise known as the Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa, arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Response Team (IRT), in an operation led by the head of the IRT Unit, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari.
Saidu was just 17 years old and in his final year in a government college, located in Kaduna State, when his father ordered him to drop out of school.
The father then enlisted him into the Ansarul terrorist group. They both blamed his father for the path their lives took. They had wished for a better life.
SAIDU’S CONFESSION
When my father asked me to dropout, my mother knew about did nothing. She was more interested in keeping her marriage than my future. I had no choice than to abide by my father’s instruction. My father was a member of the Ansarul group before Police arrested him. As soon as I was joined the group in 2015, I was sent to Libya for training. I was supposed to be a field agent, so my training was more on how to survive during a war. We were told that if one was trained in Libya, he would experience real fighting between government and our members. I was there for just six months before I had an accident, leading to my two fingers being amputated. The accident happened when I was driving our operational jeep. I drove into a ditch. They said that I could not continue with my training. I was sent back home. Back in Nigeria, I was told to go and learn how to sew clothes, that I would be staying in town to assist the group whenever the need arises. I had to learn how to sew clothes so that no one would suspect that I belonged to the group. The group sends money into my account, which I use in buying things needed by members to survive in the bush. I was among those that kidnapped some foreigners at a construction site in Niger State. I came to the camp that day and was asked to join them since I had a bit of an experience. I don’t know how much was collected as ransom, but at the end of the operation, I was given N200, 000. I also participated in another kidnap operation in Zamfara State. We blocked the highway and kidnapped several people in vehicles that we flagged down. I was given just N50, 000 in that operation because we didn’t make much money.
We were initially told that we were fighting against none Muslims, but I have come to realise that majority of the people we kidnapped were actually Muslims. I have not achieved anything since I joined the group, and the worst of it all is that I can no longer go back to school. I will like to leave that group but if the leaders are still alive, they will order that I be killed. If law enforcement agents can arrest all our leaders, other members of the group will disperse. If our leaders are not arrested, then the law enforcement people and the government are wasting their time because, the leaders will keep going to mosques to recruit young people. The truth is that if anyone of us is killed or dies, our leaders just go to different mosques and recruit new people to replace those that had been killed or died.
MUSTAPHA’S STORY
Mustapha was just 16 years old when his father asked him to drop out of school and join the terrorist group
He words: “I was 16 years old when my father forced us to join the group. The group said that I was too young to go to Libya for training. My father handed me over to one Mamoud, who taught me how to shoot and drive the group’s operational vehicles. My job was to run errands until I had come of age to travel abroad for further trainings. Another role I played in the group was to buy food, and sometimes I watch over victims that were kidnapped. When I joined the group, I was told that we were fighting against the Nigerian government. They made us to believe that when we take over Nigeria, our families would become millionaires and own houses in Abuja. I was placed on N100, 000 monthly allowance and asked to stay in town in order to be running errands. It was also my responsibility to collect arms from our members in Sokoto and take them to those in the bush. We don’t pay those that supply the arms because everybody is working towards winning the war. Sometimes, however, the group gives the suppliers money as gifts. Last year, when Police arrested my father, I swore that I would renounce my membership of the group because I knew that Police were looking for me. After some months, I became broke, so I returned to the group. I wish my father had not withdrawn me from school. I had always dreamed of becoming a doctor. I still love to return to school if I’m given the opportunity. I do not know how Police will end the activities of the group because our members are everywhere!
First Published 2020
