ABUJA—The military, yesterday, raised alarm that following the new onslaught by Nigerian troops to reclaim seized communities from Boko Haram terrorists in the North East, the insurgents have resorted to using women and children as human shields in order to halt or slow down the troops’ advance.
Vanguard reported, yesterday, that Nigerian
troops, in collaboration with Israeli and American military advisers have
commenced a major offensive to reclaim Mubi and other towns from the terrorists
and as at yesterday, sources said the troops were advancing to Bazza, en
route Gulak.
The resort to use of women as human shields as well as
children as child-soldiers by Boko Haram militants in their quest to weaken
military operations was said to be giving the military authorities concern.
A top security source in the North-East disclosed that
the terrorists, while carrying out their recruitment, rape and kill some of the
young captives who are reluctant to join them.
The source said: “In most cases, children and teenagers
are forced to be in the forefront in the battle against the Nigerian troops
through ambushing and suicide bombing; and there are established cases of women
and children getting involved in terrorist acts like recent bombings in
schools.
“On several occasions, the Nigerian military has captured
small children who were forced to take up arms against the state with some of
them behaving abnormally due to indoctrination and inducement through the use
of hard drugs.”
The security source added: “We are being cautious in
abiding by the rules of engagement even when we are aware that the militants
recruit children for spying on us and pushing them to engage in hostilities
against innocent citizens and the troops.
“Most of the children, especially teenagers were
recruited through abduction, kidnapping and enticement with money after which
they undergo brainwashing and combat training. Those that are unwilling to
cooperate are punished or summarily executed.”
Reliable sources further suggested that insurgents have
relied on the knowledge that Nigerian troops have a responsibility to observe
strict rules of engagement and also avoid a situation whereby patriotic
citizens caught in the crossfire of conflict will lose their lives.
Military lost men while avoiding child-soldiers—
Source
“We have lost our men in the battle-field while we tried
to avoid shooting children and teenagers who are forced to confront us. How do
you expect us to arrest a child with a gun? Do we accord such an armed
under-age combatant with the status of a child deserving of protection under
the rules of engagement?
“It may become inevitable that some collateral damage may
be recorded if we get the orders, especially because Boko Haram elements were
using civilians as human shields to continue to gain undue advantages in the
current battle in the North East.
“However, much as troops are determined to avoid
collateral damage, it has become inevitable to be decisive with armed underage
combatants and female suicide bombers with the situation degenerating by the
day.
“The military will no longer tolerate a situation where
insurgents use human shield to gain undue advantage especially now that
majority of Nigerians have demanded that a full scale war be declared by
government in response to Boko Haram,” the source declared.
Boko Haram captures another Adamawa town
Meanwhile, Boko Haram has expanded the territory it
controls in Adamawa State after it overran the town of Maiha on Monday. The
group had earlier renamed two towns it captured in Adamawa and Borno as part of
its declared caliphate in the North-East of the country. Mubi, in Adamawa was
renamed ‘Madinatul Islam’, meaning the “City of Islam,” after an October 29
invasion, while Gwoza in Borno was renamed “Darul Hikma” meaning “House of
Wisdom”.
Maiha is about 25 kilometres from Mubi, the commercial
town captured by the insurgents in Adamawa last week and about 200km from Yola,
the state capital.
It was gathered from residents that before the town
eventually fell to the insurgents, it was already a shadow of itself as commercial
and social activities were paralyzed as people had deserted the town due to its
proximity to Mubi.
Residents also claimed seeing many soldiers running away
from the area with some of them hitch-hiking in residents’ vehicles. The
soldiers reportedly told the residents that if the insurgents caught up with
them, it would lead to instant death.
A fleeing resident, Kabir Musa, in a telephone interview
with an online news medium, Premium Times, said “the insurgents
started trooping into the town around 2:30 p.m. and engaged troops stationed at
Kosha before advancing to the main town of Maiha. The soldiers, who advanced to
the area in their bid to recapture Mubi, started running away as the insurgents
overran the entire town.”
Another resident of the town, Garba Baba, said some
fleeing soldiers begged him to assist them with civilian clothes so they would
not be traced by the insurgents. The soldiers, he said, even threw their guns
into the bush.
“The fleeing soldiers asked us to give them our clothes
so that they can camouflage and escape from the area safely as some of them
discarded their weapons in the bush. A lot of discarded weapons are currently
lying in the bush,” Mr. Baba, who also fled Maiha, said.
He said the insurgents did not encounter any challenge
from Nigerian troops similar to what happened when the insurgents captured
Mubi.
According to him, “the insurgents did not encounter any
challenge as they stormed the town in APCs and Toyota Hilux vans, firing shots
into the soldiers’ directions , and chanting Allahu Akbar. The Boko
Haram insurgents had ordered us not to run, saying that they were not after
civilians but soldiers and other security people.”
Another resident still trapped in Maiha, Dauda Mallam,
said: “Many of the residents fled into the bush, particularly soldiers. Some of
them may have been killed by bullets. The insurgents also hoisted their flags
in strategic places in the town.”
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