The Unwary Almajiri || Bashir Yahaya

Back at their operational base inside Azwog forest, Kaushe was restless because his plan had gone horribly wrong. He also knew it was a matter of time before the police found their way to Azwog. They had to leave. Immediately.

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“All forms of western education and civilisation are evil!” The sermon of Mallam Barau, a migrant Islamic scholar from the Lake Chad area kept reverberating in Kaushe’s head. “Advocates and supporters of western education are kafirs, infidels who turn innocent people to unbelievers. It is therefore obligatory upon all of you here to wage a campaign against them and if they refuse to heed, just kill them! Burn their schools and fight anyone that stands in your way!” The distraught Kaushe was restless throughout the night with those words echoing in his mind.

Kaushe was a 21-year-old almajiri from Gabari who had just completed his Higher Islamic education. He went to various alaramma houses to acquire further knowledge of Islam. It was in his quest for further knowledge that he learnt of Mallam Barau, the revolutionary preacher. Mallam Barau had been attracting young almajirai from different parts of Gabari to his movement with an ideology that espoused aversion to western education, civilisation and socialisation. The number of young almajirai that thronged the movement made Kaushe assume that a new dawn had emerged in the advancement of Islamic knowledge in Gabari.

Gabari had a population of about six hundred thousand inhabitants. The city is bordered on the east by Azowg, a dense forest that extended to the vicinity of the Lake Chad, its major river cutting across the forest to empty its waters into the shrinking lake. Fishing and irrigation farming are the major occupation of the people of Gabari. Fishermen and farmers generate a lot of income from the sale of the highly sought-after fish to buyers from different parts of the country and abroad. Gabari boasted of one polytechnic and many secondary schools, including schools of higher Islamic studies across the various communities that make up the city.

Mallam Barau was able to accumulate an impressive number of adherents from the pool of young almajirai within Gabari and its environs by providing free meals after each contact session. Stipends were given to anyone who brought a new member into the movement while Mallam successfully instilled in them his tailor-made ideology which they upheld. Many of Mallam’s adherents had attained an appreciable level of higher Islamic education but chose to leave the conventional Islamic schools and even tore up their certificates to follow Mallam Barau.

Fauzia was the 14-year-old daughter of Mallam Nasir. She was in her second year at Government Girls’ Secondary School, Gabari. She was of average height, slim and fair in complexion with curious, smiling eyes. Fauzia hoped to become a nurse or a health worker to help ameliorate the problem of a shortage of health workers in her community. She attended Islamiyya school in the evenings after her conventional school.

Kaushe taught in the same Islamic school that Fauzia attended and he had grown affectionate towards her. Fauzia too was fond of Kaushe because of his hard work, dedication to teaching and the special interest he took in her. Kaushe began to preach his newfound ideology to pupils and students of this Islamiyya during his lesson periods. The management of the Islamiyya school cautioned Kaushe and he promised to stop. His relationship with Fauzia however gave Kaushe the opportunity to continue to preach to her that western education and civilisation was bad, particularly for girls and women. He opined that western education and civilisation creates a breed of girls and women who disrespect men, culture and the society. In one of their discussion sessions, Fauzia asked Kaushe how she would become a nurse or a health worker and help her community if she dropped out school. Kaushe had no answer for her.

The teachings and propagation of Mallam Barau became a source of concern to other Islamic teachers and parents in Gabari, who were alarmed at the upsurge in the number of young boys and men dropping out of school and moving to Mallam Barau’s Islamiyya. Traditional and religious leaders as well as parents decided to dialogue with Mallam Barau. An invitation letter was sent to Mallam Barau with a date for the meeting, which he agreed to attend. The traditional and religious leaders appointed Sheik Asi Ila to be their spokesperson. Sheik Asi Ila was a renowned Islamic teacher and preacher in Gabari. He was also a senior lecturer of Information Technology and Management at the polytechnic there.

On the date fixed for the meeting, all parties were present and agreed that the most pressing issue to be considered was the preaching of the prohibition western education and civilisation by Mallam Barau. Mallam Barau asserted that because of western education and civilisation, many good Muslims had become unbelievers and this had wreaked havoc on the ethical and moral dispositions of young Muslims. He premised his proscription of western education and civilisation on this. For his part, Sheik Asi Ila stated that it is obligatory for all Muslims including girls and women to pursue knowledge and education that is beneficial to the society and humanity, even if it meant going to the furthest parts for the purpose. He further stated that the activities of missionaries were what led to the conversion of some people and not western education or civilisation. “If anyone could be converted to another religion because of western education and civilisation, I guess all of us that are lecturers in various field of western education and civilisation would have since been converted,” said the scholar. Sheik Asi Ila asked Mallam Barau if he had seen any form of moral and ethical degradation among the doctors and other lecturers in the polytechnic and teachers in schools within Gabari. Sheik Asi Ila concluded that the moral and ethical decadence society was witnessing was as a result of the inability of parents and society at large to properly train their children and wards.

It seemed that Sheik Ila’s argument won over Mallam Barau. He agreed that there was no relationship between western education and civilisation on one hand, and conversion, moral and ethical decadence on the other hand. He promised to make this clarification to his adherents and advise them to go back to school in order to add value to society. He also agreed that there were no specific or general prohibition of western education and civilisation in Islam. These were the resolutions reached at the meeting. They all parted ways, seemingly satisfied.

Mallam Barau did not keep to his side of the bargain. He refused to inform his adherents about the resolutions reached and advise them as agreed during the dialogue. Instead, he persisted in propagating the view that western education and civilisation was evil and all Muslims must do away with anything from the west. He made his adherents believe that he had a superior argument during the dialogue and they could continue with their activities. This made his adherents bolder and continued to attract sympathy from unsuspecting youth in Gabari. His adherents began to see other members of the society who refused to be guided by Mallam Barau teachings as unfortunate yokels.

The police, perceiving the growing tension between Mallam Barau and the members of the communities in Gabari, and decided to invite him for an interview. The team of policemen dispatched to Mallam Barau’s Islamiyya school to invite him to the police station met with stiff resistance as his followers barricaded the entrance to the school compound. Mallam refused to meet with the police officers, so to avoid confrontation with his followers, the police team left a message that Mallam Barau should immediately present himself at the police station.

At the police station, the team was briefing the Divisional Police Officer on its assignment when Mallam Barau arrived at the police station with hordes of his adherents. He was quizzed by the police for a couple of hours and was allowed to return home on the condition that he would stop the ideological manipulation of the youth and engage only in preaching the correct teachings of Islam. As he emerged from the police station, he was received with cheers by the mammoth crowd who were chanting praise songs in his honour.

The singular act of not detaining Mallam Barau only served to further embolden he and his adherents. They began to threaten innocent people and students who attended conventional schools. They also categorised the police force as agents of the west whom it had become necessary to be dealt with. One day, a band of students from Mallam Barau’s Islamiyya went to preach their dangerous brand of Islam in the market, calling on people to renounce western education and values. Some youth decided to engage them in a debate which became heated and in short order a fight ensued. Police attached to the market immediately arrested all the parties and took them to the police divisional headquarters for interrogation. The students from Mallam Barau Islamiyya were detained as suspects and were to be charged to court with the offence of unauthorised gathering and the use of inciteful words in public which caused the confrontation.

On receiving the news of his adherents’ detention at the police divisional headquarters and the plan to charge them to court the following day, Mallam Barau called an emergency meeting of his lieutenants in Gabari. They resolved to go to police divisional headquarters to bail their men. When Mallam Barau got to the station, he too was detained for not abiding by the conditions earlier stipulated by the police. This caused some commotion between Mallam Barau’s entourage and the police. The police were able to disperse the crowd and defend their divisional headquarters from Mallam Barau’s adherents.

Mallam Barau’s followers immediately went into war mode. Kaushe was unanimously selected to oversee the Islamiyya and serve as acting leader. They all agreed that he had the required knowledge, wisdom and pedigree to lead them despite his age. This marked a turning point in the activities of the movement. However, youthful exuberance influenced most of the decisions Kaushe made and it began to affect his relationship with others.

Basking in the euphoria of his appointment, Kaushe decided to ask for Fauzia’s hand in marriage. Mallam Nasir was taken aback but informed Kaushe that his daughter wanted to become a nurse and he intended to do everything in his power to support her dreams. He also told Kaushe that even if he wanted to marry Fauzia off, it would not be to someone like him because of his inclination to Mallam Barau and the ideology he espoused.

Kaushe bristled at the refusal. Angrily, he admonished Mallam Nasir that Fauzia was better off married to him than pursuing western education which would lead her to the fires of hell. Mallam Nasir was surprised at the extent of Kaushe’s extremism. Mallam Nasir, an Arabic teacher in his own right, advised Kaushe to desist from propagating his false doctrine because it had no basis in Islam. When he realised that Kaushe was beyond redemption, he politely asked him to leave his house and desist from dissuading his daughter from pursuing her education. This further infuriated Kaushe and he stormed out of Mallam Nasir’s house without bidding him goodbye.

It became obvious to Kaushe and his comrades that the police were not willing to grant bail or release Mallam Barau from their custody. They deliberated on the issue and decided on an audacious plan to invade Government Girls’ Secondary School, Gabari, abduct the students and hold them as hostages until Mallam Barau was released. Kaushe secretly established an operational base inside Azwog forest and coordinated the plan on how to abduct the girls and transport them to the forest. Before the scheduled day of the invasion of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Gabari, Kaushe gathered all the would-be abductors and instructed them to ensure Fauzia was among the abductees.

Fauzia was in her classroom copying her biology note when suddenly she heard a scream from the next class. Before she could leave the class to find out what was happening, the class was surrounded by wild looking men and boys with head gear that covered their mouths and noses, leaving only their eyes visible. The whole class was asked to step outside and join their other school mates. Fauzia stood up and obeyed the order. To her shock, Fauzia realised that the school was cordoned by the weird looking men and boys on motorcycles she had never seen in Gabari. It was then it dawned on her that they were being kidnapped. She wanted to scream and run but no sound came from her mouth and her legs could not find the strength to run. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she began to pray silently for the Almighty to rescue them from the unfolding nightmare. The school gateman and security man had been hog-tied and beaten to pulp while the teachers were also restrained and kept separately from the students. The abductors forced two girls behind the rider and another kidnapper bringing up the rear on each bike. The girls were blindfolded before they were moved to Kaushe’s operational base in the heart of Azwog forest. A total of 350 girls were abducted from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Gabari, that day.

After about three hours of rough riding into the heart of the forest, Fauzia and her other school mates were made to come down from the bikes, their arms and legs stiff from the long ride. The base was ringed by mighty tree trunks and shrubs. There were two large rooms adjacent to each other, with a main entrance separating these from other smaller rooms. There were two latrines behind the rooms and a well beside them too. The girls were herded into the two large rooms where there were mats meant for them to sleep on. Fauzia was taken to a different room from these two. There was a mattress, a pillow and a blanket neatly folded on the mattress in the room. A leather carpet covered the cemented floor, wall to wall.

Four elderly women in their late 50s to early 60s, all deaf and dumb, tended to the needs of the girls but they refused to eat or drink the food and water made available by these women. Just like her school mates, Fauzia too refused to eat or drink that day. She spent the greater part of the night crying and praying to God to rescue them from the hands of their abductors.

The following day, Fauzia was taken by a young man of about 19 to another room which had a table, three chairs and some wooden benches.  She was asked to sit on one of the chairs and await the arrival of their leader. Fauzia was startled when she heard a familiar voice call out “assalamu alaikum”. It was a voice she was familiar with, a voice that even in her sleep she would recognise, a voice she respected so much whenever it gave instruction in her Islamiyya.

Kaushe strolled into the room, took one of the seats and removed his head gear before he sat down. Fauzia could not believe who she was seeing sitting before her in the middle of the forest. She concluded that Kaushe was there to rescue them, oblivious that he was the architect of their woes. Her shock was complete when Kaushe coldly informed her that he and his men abducted them and they would not be released until their leader, Mallam Barau was released by the police. He assured her that no harm would come to her or any of her schoolmates if they behaved themselves and followed the rules. Fighting tears, Fauzia begged him to release her and her mates so that they could go back to their families and school. Kaushe informed her that if she continued crying, his thoughts towards her might change and he would treat her like the other girls they had abducted. Shrieking, Fauzia collapsed on the floor and grabbed Kaushe’s leg, begging him to reconsider his stance and release them so that they could go back home. Kaushe pulled his legs from her grasp, ordered the man to take her away and stormed out of the room.

In Gabari, there is confusion among the parents and guardians of the abducted girls, the police and the community. It was the first time an abduction had happened in Gabari. The police and other security personnel were dispatched to the school to get information from the school authorities about the incident and collect any clues that might lead to the rescue of the girls. For three days, there was no information on the missing girls and the pressure was mounting on government to find them.

On the fourth day, the police received a message from Kaushe informing them that all 350 abducted girls were in his custody, hale and hearty and would only be released if their leader was released.

The news was received with trepidation by the parents of the abducted girls and the community at large. The parents were concerned about the safety and dignity of their children. If the abductors could be disobedient to their creator, it seemed that little could stop them from desecrating the chastity of the innocent girls.

The police stormed Mallam Barau’s Islamiyya school to find it expectedly deserted. Kaushe’s mother was invited and quizzed by the police but they discovered that he had cut off ties with her when he became one of Mallam Barau’s lieutenants.

Meanwhile the police issued a statement informing the public that the abductors of the girls wanted to swap them in exchange for Mallam Barau. They also stated the official position that the government did not negotiate with terrorists and that Mallam Barau would be transferred to a more secure detention facility. They went further to offer a reward of N1,000,000 for information leading to the apprehension of the abductors and release of the girls. The statement also encouraged the abductors to retrace their steps and release the girls and surrender to the police. The statement incensed Kaushe and his followers and they decided it was time to up the ante.

On the tenth day after the abduction, at about 1.00 a.m., Kaushe and his men attacked the divisional police station at Gabari using Molotov cocktails and an assortment of other arms. They succeeded in overpowering the policemen on duty, breaking into the detention cells and setting all the detainees including Mallam Barau free. Police reinforcements with superior arms arrived immediately and engaged the abductors in a gun fight. The siege lasted for about an hour. At the end of it, Mallam Barau and scores of his would-be rescuers lay dead. Many others sustained varying degrees of injury and were arrested. Kaushe and a few of his remaining men retreated and fled on their bikes, leaving behind the bodies of their leader and members.

Back at their operational base inside Azwog forest, Kaushe was restless because his plan had gone horribly wrong. He also knew it was a matter of time before the police found their way to Azwog. They had to leave. Immediately. After a quick meeting, Kaushe and the rest of his followers decided to move deeper into the forest, close to a border town and in more difficult terrain. Kaushe and his men woke the girls and the four elderly mute women, carried what they could and beat a hasty retreat into the unknown.

On arrival at the new location, they began to construct a new camp for the abducted girls, while another team was asked to go and get supplies from the town. They came back to announce that because there was high security presence in the town, they had been unable to get all they needed.

Back in Gabari, for three days, the police grilled the men apprehended to extract information on the whereabouts of the abducted schoolgirls but they refused to divulge any. The DPO decided that radical action would be required to get information from the criminals. He brought out his pistol and shot one of the abductors in the leg. His scream was all the other men needed to start talking. A special tactical team was immediately dispatched to Azwog forest to rescue the abducted schoolgirls and apprehend Kaushe and his other team members. The team arrived at the hideout and found it deserted, with evidence of a hurried departure of the abductors and their captives. A discreet reconnaissance of the Azwog forest for two more days revealed the location of the new camp and the assurance of the presence of the abducted schoolgirls inside the camp.

 Supplies in the camp was running low and Kaushe was getting desperate. They had to ration food and this made the men irritable and not as disciplined as they usually were. This prompted Kaushe and his men to plan a burglary in the border town market to get foodstuffs and other essential needs. They were preparing to go and launch the attack on the market at night when the police team invaded. Stiff resistance by the abductors resulted in an exchange of fire between the police team and the abductors. Many of them sustained injuries from gunshots. Thankfully none of the girls was hurt. Kaushe and his men were overpowered and subsequently arrested.

It was a happy day in Gabari when the girls were returned to their parents. Kaushe and his band of terrorists were soon forgotten as the made their way through the legal system to face the full weight of the law. A year later, Kaushe was hanged within the walls of a prison in the state capital.

THE END