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The capture of Bama has led to the discovery of the atrocities perpetrated by the Boko Haram terror group while their hold on the town lasted.
A statement on Thursday by PRNigeria, the media advisory for government security agencies, said a large number of dead bodies of some of their hostages or those who resisted the insurgents have been discovered by Nigerian troops.
“Aside from those whose bodies were thrown inside wells, others were also said to have been executed on the River Bama bridge as the terrorists fled the town.
“Civilians who have been cooperating with troops also narrated horrendous tales of the brutality of the terrorists while they held sway and ruled with an iron hand, executing their own version of religious jurisprudence,” PRNigeria quoted military sources as stating.
“An intelligence officer confirmed that the cordon and search of the town was continuing while some persons in the town are also being interrogated by troops.
“Military and security sources confirmed to PRNigeria that as troops advanced on Bama, the terrorists embarked on a killing and maiming spree.
“Military medical teams and emergency workers have been attending to survivors and evacuating internally displaced persons as screening of the town continues,” the statement said.
When contacted, Defence spokesman, Major-General Chris Olukolade, declined commenting on specific atrocities by the terrorists, saying specific details would only be given after the ongoing search of the town and its environments is concluded.
With the dislodgement of terrorists from most of their locations in the North-east and especially Bama, mop-up operations by troops have been revealing the heart-rending atrocities perpetrated while the terrorists held the towns and villages captive.
More evidence of Boko Haram’s atrocities and crimes against humanity emerged yesterday with reports showing that members of the sect also killed dozens of women who were forced to marry Boko Haram fighters before a battle with Nigerian troops in Bama.
According to AFP, five witnesses, who recounted the massacres, said the Islamists feared they would be killed by advancing soldiers or separated from their wives when they fled the town.
They killed the women to prevent them from subsequently marrying soldiers or other so-called non-believers, they added.
“The terrorists said they will not allow their wives to be married to infidels,” said Sharifatu Bakura, 39, a mother of three.
According to Bakura’s account, which was supported by others, Boko Haram fighters received word of a military assault on Bama, Borno’s second largest city after the state capital, Maiduguri.
The insurgents had decided to flee to the nearby town of Gwoza before the troops’ arrival but first decided “to kill their wives so that nobody will remarry them,” she said.
Bakura’s husband was killed by the insurgents four months ago but she was spared from a forced marriage because she was visibly pregnant.
Boko Haram forcibly married scores of women in Bama after seizing it in September. Nigeria’s military announced the recapture of the town on Monday.
Witnesses, who were taken under military protection this week to Borno's capital Maiduguri, 73 kilometres away, said the killing of women began 10 days before Bama was liberated.
The Islamists said “if they kill their wives, they would remain pious until both of them meet again in heaven, where they would re-unite,” said Salma Mahmud, another witness.
A vigilante, who fought alongside the military in the battle to retake Bama, Abba Kassim, said he saw “dozens of women’s corpses” in the town.
While other witnesses reported a similarly high casualty figure, the numbers were impossible to verify.
Nigeria’s national security spokesman Mike Omeri told AFP he would try to verify the reports while the military could not be immediately reached for comment.
Credit: ThisdayLive.com
