Favourite hideout of Boko Haram in Sokoto

Posted by admin Boko Haram, Sokoto, State News Sunday, March 11th, 2012

Residents of the quiet Sokoto neighbourhood were taken unawares last Thursday as a scene in a war zone played out in real life with guns booming for about seven hours. It was at Mabera Itti, an extension of Mabera located within the Sokoto metropolis and a relatively quiet area where two Europeans, Chris MacManus, a British citizen, and Franco Lamolinara, an Italian national were allegedly killed by their captors. They were kidnapped from their apartment in Kebbi State in May 2011 and later bundled to Sokoto State.

Incidentally, about three months ago, there had been a similar shoot out when gunmen engaged men the Sokoto State Police Command.
For many hours in a house not too far away from the latest event, gunshots were exchanged that sent panic among residents who scampered to safety and remained holed up in their homes until the gunmen were subdued and discovered to be armed robbers.
On the fateful Thursday, an armed rescue team comprising men of the British Special Forces and their Nigerian counterparts invaded a house at the back of the state-owned Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in the Mabera area. Their purpose was to rescue the foreigners held hostage within the area. It had taken over a year to pinpoint their location.

Sunday Sun learnt that their captors had demanded the sum of N150 million as ransom to secure freedom for the two construction workers.
As the gun battle raged, apprehension grew among residents of the area, who could not fathom the cause of the firefight. But unknown to them, members of the Boko Haram sect were holding two foreigners hostage within their midst.

Long before the attempted rescue effort, residents of the area had lived in fear of members of the Islamist sect, who had regularly threatened them with reprisals if their they collaborated with authorities.
Recounting the scary experience, Abdullahi Shehu said: “We had initially believed that some gunmen invaded the state since it was on record that there was plan for security breach by some sect members.”

At the end of the operation, when the security operatives finally closed in on the kidnappers’ den and gained access into the house to arrest the occupants, the two captives had already been killed.
Two of the five gunmen were also shot dead with a private security guard allegedly engaged by the kidnappers, but was said to have taken refuge in the uncompleted house near his duty post for safety but was gunned down in the crossfire.
Some witnesses at the scene told Sunday Sun that the gunmen had stoutly resisted being arrested by the security forces, and this resulted in heavy gun fight that ensued between them, leaving the walls of the house pockmarked with bullet holes.

A military source in Sokoto, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said the house had been placed under surveillance few days before the combined army troops drafted from Abuja that struck the compound.
According to the source “Although, we did not partake in the rescue mission team, there was a signal a few days ago to intensify surveillance around Mabera area. The compound was eventually raided by the special force from Abuja. Our boys only joined them about an hour before the operation was started.” He said.
Some residents also claimed that some houses were searched by some security men in mufti in the state a few months ago. But it was considered to be normal security surveillance aimed at unraveling the whereabouts of Boko Haram members in the state.
“We learnt that a few weeks ago, men of the SSS in the state who were keeping vigil around Mabera streets came in the wee hours, fuelling suspicion of likely moves by some people to breach peace in the state,” some residents disclosed to Sunday Sun.

They told Sunday Sun that the house used by the kidnappers was a rented apartment of about four rooms, and well secured with a high fence and Iron Gate.
No one could confirm the exact time when the house was occupied. It was, however, revealed that two gatemen had served in the house before the incident happened.
“The occupants rented the house a few months ago, and engaged a Nigerian as gate keeper popularly called Maigadi. But after sometimes, the gatemen were sacked for unknown reason. Later, they brought another middle-aged man who is an origin of Kano state as a replacement,” said Malam Sanusi Musa, an octogenarian who lives around the raided house.
Sunday Sun further learnt that the said gateman who was incidentally among the casualties during the crossfire had told some neighbours about the presence of some suspected foreigners who were living in one of the inner rooms with his bosses.

Another resident who lives a few meters away from the scene of the incident further disclosed that an unidentified woman suspected to be a mistress of one of the culprits had come to the street looking for a particular house which was later identified to be the kidnapper’s den.
“A few months ago, a woman came around asking for a particular colour of a house with black gate. She later identified the building after some conversations with a caller,” said the man.
There are insinuations that the said woman might have been apprehended along the three suspects arrested during the raid.

It could not be confirmed whether the kidnappers were aliens or members of Boko Haram sect. All efforts to get official comments on the raid operation from security head in the state proved abortive.
However, Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Al-Mustapha Sani, who later confirmed the incident to Sunday Sun, said the operation was purely an SSS affair. “We have nothing to do with the operation. It was purely an affair of SSS and soldiers. You can contact them for details,” Sani stated.
As at the time of filing this report, there was still presence of some military men to cordon off the house. There was also restriction in the movement to the headquarters of the security agencies in the state. The police said they had taken adequate measures to forestall further attacks.

-Sunwp_posts