He blames Boko Haram, incubated in his
home city of Maiduguri, for the death of his
wife. He has vowed to take revenge should
he ever get the chance.
As a public employee, Abakyari was a target.
The goal of the insurgency is the destruction
of a corrupt Nigerian state, replaced by a
justly governed caliphate, harking back to a
pre-colonial past . But when armed men tried
to break into his apartment one night in the
“Locos” suburb of Maiduguri, he believes the
motive was robbery rather than any grander
statement.
Boko Haram’s membership is broad. Within
its ranks are educated ideologues,
opportunists looking for power or money, and
the men and women who have been
kidnapped and coerced. In Locos, as in other
parts of the city they once controlled, they
killed and extorted under the noses of the
security forces, imposing a tax “for
breathing” on anyone they chose.
But when they knocked at Abakyari’s door,
his wife stood her ground. As he hid in the
shower, she denied he was home and
refused them entry. When the gunmen finally
left, she collapsed in the doorway and he
couldn’t revive her. “She protected me,” he
tells IRIN.
This is a war that has killed more than
20,000 people, driven over 1.8 million from
their homes and left two million hungry. But
what has been a spectacularly grisly conflict
now seems to be entering a new and
uncertain phase.
Boko Haram once controlled most of
northeastern Borno, with footholds in
neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states. At
one stage it was estimated to be 15,000
strong. Now the momentum appears to be
with the military. Boko Haram is still active
in Borno, but the last unliberated territory is
on the northern desert fringe of the state,
bordering Chad and Niger.
home city of Maiduguri, for the death of his
wife. He has vowed to take revenge should
he ever get the chance.
As a public employee, Abakyari was a target.
The goal of the insurgency is the destruction
of a corrupt Nigerian state, replaced by a
justly governed caliphate, harking back to a
pre-colonial past . But when armed men tried
to break into his apartment one night in the
“Locos” suburb of Maiduguri, he believes the
motive was robbery rather than any grander
statement.
Boko Haram’s membership is broad. Within
its ranks are educated ideologues,
opportunists looking for power or money, and
the men and women who have been
kidnapped and coerced. In Locos, as in other
parts of the city they once controlled, they
killed and extorted under the noses of the
security forces, imposing a tax “for
breathing” on anyone they chose.
But when they knocked at Abakyari’s door,
his wife stood her ground. As he hid in the
shower, she denied he was home and
refused them entry. When the gunmen finally
left, she collapsed in the doorway and he
couldn’t revive her. “She protected me,” he
tells IRIN.
This is a war that has killed more than
20,000 people, driven over 1.8 million from
their homes and left two million hungry. But
what has been a spectacularly grisly conflict
now seems to be entering a new and
uncertain phase.
Boko Haram once controlled most of
northeastern Borno, with footholds in
neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states. At
one stage it was estimated to be 15,000
strong. Now the momentum appears to be
with the military. Boko Haram is still active
in Borno, but the last unliberated territory is
on the northern desert fringe of the state,
bordering Chad and Niger.
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