Juliana Francis
Aminu Shuaibu, 33, aka Abu Mus’ab of Rigasa, Kaduna State was arrested for kidnapping. He’s a member of the Ansarul terrorist group. He tell his story.
His words: I’m not yet married because I wanted to have freedom to make money. I dropped out of school due to financial problems. I survived by doing menial jobs until I was able to raise money to buy a Golf car. I used the car as a cab. Normally, I make as much as N5000 a day. This is the job that I have been doing for years even as a member of Ansarul terrorist group. It was in 2015 that I met one Mamoud in the mosque. After prayer, we used to hangout and discuss about life. I was a member of the Izala Muslim Movement and we normally gather for prayers and listen to lectures from Imams. Mamoud was the one that told me about Ansarul group; he said that I would make a lot of money if I became a member. He explained to me that we would be fighting the cause of Allah, and that I would also have the opportunity to travel to Libya. I was happy to join because I believed that they were not like Boko Haram group that was killing fellow Muslims. It was the excitement of going to Libya that convinced me to join the group. As soon as I met Maitukwane, the leader of the group in Nigeria, he asked me to join the medical team. That was how I was trained as a doctor in the camp. My duty was to attend to the sick and the wounded. Yes, I know that the group used to kidnap people regularly as a way of making money since government does not allow the group to operate freely.
We were operating freely before army and Police dispersed us, and then we had to go deeper into the forest. It was only some of us who still had our families outside that were moved around town. Three years ago, I was one of the members drafted to go to Libya and assist in fighting against their government. It was Ahmdumahid, who was in-charge of our own group in Kaduna that sent five of us to Libya at the same time. On getting to Libya, I was drafted to work in their clinic. The Ansarul Group in Libya was under serious attack from their government and a lot of them were wounded. During my spare time, I go to the field to learn how to become a professional sniper. We were not sent there to make money. All they did was to give us N50, 000 every three months as allowance. We all went there with the belief that we were fighting a good cause. We were not the only Nigerians sent to Libya that time. Different sets came from different areas in Nigeria to assist them. I spent about a year in Libya before I was asked to return because our camp in Nigeria needed my skill as a doctor. I never attended any medical school. I was trained by professional doctors. Some of our members were professional medical doctors. These doctors used to come from cities into the bush to attend wounded members, whenever there was a need.
People like me had to be recruited into the group and trained to become a ‘doctor’ after some of our group’s medical doctors expressed fear that the Nigerian government was onto them. That was why a few of us were drafted into the medical unit to be trained as doctors. I don’t know the name of the doctor that trained me. We all called him doctor. I spent about two months with him and learnt the job. I can stitch cuts, treat deep wounds and remove bullets. To help the wounded to recover fast, I give them tramadol injection and chloramphenicol injection. If the matter is so bad, I call the doctor that trained me for advice. I also attended to victims who are sick. During my spare time, I teach new members how to become a doctor. I never knew that Police were after me despite how careful I was. In my community, everyone knew me as a cab driver. I received a message to go and collect money from one of our sponsors. The message turned out to be a trap set by the Police. I’m sorry and will like to be given an opportunity to leave the group.
First Published 2020
