How we Fought Boko Haram in Baga – Civilian JTF Member

A member of Civilian JTF Bande Kaskas from
Baga in Borno State tells how he escaped his
hometown during a vicious raid by Boko
Haram that killed hundreds. He is now in a
displacement camp in Maiduguri, the state
capital. He talks about living in fear for the
past few years, what people are doing to get
people into Chad, how he and his group fight
Boko Haram, and gave his point of view of
what happened on the day of the massacre.
He also talked about what life is like in the
camps and the need for education and
healthcare. He also expressed his willingness
to vote in Nigeria’s upcoming elections.

What is your name?
Bande Kaskas
What are you in the civilian JTF?
CIA for Baga, Kuka Local Government
Are you from Baga?
Yes. I am from Baga.
How did you get this camp?
It is the government that prepared it for us and we stay.
For the past two years, how has Baga been?
Life in Baga for these past two years has been very critical. If
you hear the sound of gun, because they don’t miss bullet
(target), you have to plan, the next day you will go for one
burial or the other. They never attempted without achieving.
Once it is 5pm or 5.30pm, everybody becomes anxious until
about 8pm before people would be calmed.
What was the final thing that happened that made you left
Baga for this place?
While in Baga, we kept hearing stories of gatherings here and
there, that they will launch attack in Baga. We looked up to
our leaders, we didn’t know the kind of information they
were getting. They didn’t take necessary actions until it got to
us. The first time it got to us, when the attempt was on them,
we didn’t know how or what it was, we thought it was a test,
because sometimes they test their weapons. So we thought it
was a test-firing. We didn’t get to know that it wasn’t a mere
test firing until it got out of hand. Before we could
understand what was happening they were already done with
Multi-national in Mile 4 and headed this way.
On entering here, our soldiers entered, bullets don’t
penetrate must of our boys. Like what our some of boys were
saying that got guns from our soldiers and were firing at the
other people. It wasn’t true. It was confusion. They were
seeing the Boko Haram are like our soldiers. If I kill a
member of the Boko Haram, you that is coming behind me
without a weapon would pick the weapon of the dead Boko
Haram member fully dressed in camouflage. That makes
think he is a soldier. That was why our boys were saying they
got the guns from our soldiers. The entire Boko Haram
members are fully kitted in the Army’s camouflage, clothing.
Their bullets don’t touch us. Ours touch and kill them. When
we kill them, we carry their guns and make use of them.
We held the Boko Haram people at the entrance of the town,
our aged ones, our women, little children and those people
who didn’t trust that bullets would not penetrate them all left
the town. When it dawned on the Boko Haram people that we
delayed them so that our people could leave the town, then
they divided themselves and came after us hitting and killing
those of us that the bullets couldn’t penetrate with their
vehicles. It went this way until they overpowered us. Our
leader is a true warrior, this is our testimony. He said he
would not flee to anywhere. This is his land, his grave would
have to be in his land, until Baga was overran and a flag was
hoisted in Baga, that he left Baga.
If you talking about the time Baga was attacked, the people
our leader left behind were not more than four. Baga fell
completely into the hands of Boko Haram. They were on
pursuit of him but God rescued him. Most especially most of
the weapons they were distributing at Melanti, they were
ticked. So it wasn’t true that some of our boys snatched guns
from the soldiers.
At this incident, did you lose relation or friend?
I lost relations and friends.
In this camp, are you with your family?
No. This is because there is no one here that is not close to
me following that I am man of the people and I am in the
palace. There is my elder brother. We are together, and he
gives us work in the palace that we do. So there is no one that
came from Baga and sees us and won’t honour us. So I am
responsible to my people, and for the fact that this my elder
brother did his possible best. He is among those that Boko
Haram is looking for alive whatever it takes. They must not
kill them, that is my brother Ibrahim, three Imams and there
tradition leaders. They must be captured red-handed even if
costs the lives of the assailants. It was not possible for them.
My brother left with about three to four thousand people, he
went to a town called Tumbun Yashi. There he hired boats,
one 150,000, another 200,000, another 70,000 and another
250,000, they were conveying people out to Chad. It was the
last boat that he would board. He waited until the people
were ferried so that they don’t get maltreated in his absence.
His presence would make the people get decent treatment. Up
till now he is in Chad.
Is there good health facility with personnel taking adequate
care of you and you people?
We don’t have doctors from the outside because we have
learned children. These are the people that care for us.
The government did not send her doctors?
The government brought only one doctor and a nurse. The
rest of the personnel in the hospital are our children.
Do your people get good food to eat?
Yes, they get good food.
Do you think the government is doing her best to look after
you?
Yes, I will say the government is doing her best. But you
know us human being with our shortcomings, we don’t get
satisfied as it were in our homes. Sometimes we get so upset,
but when we look back at our reason for been in the camp, it
consoles us.
Have anybody spoken about elections to you here, or have
brought voters’ cards to you here?
Yes, they brought our voters’ cards, because voter’s cards are
weapons to us too
Did your people get their voter’s cards too?
Yes, most of them were given, about 95% of them.
Do you have urgent need in this camp?
Our people are very congested. In a two-bedrooms flat you
find about 30 people in there. That is inadequate
accommodation.
How about school? Are you having any plans for your children
going back to school?
Yes, we want them to go back to school. But they are not
registered in the schools of this town.
Have you attempted to tell the government, whether State or
Federal, that you need school that your children could attend?
Nobody gave us the avenue to express our concern, but these
are things we need including hospital and Arabic school so
that our little girls can attend, in the event that we get
another challenge, they would be able to uphold what they
have leant, mores that we know we are not staying here
forever. The moment we are told to go back to our different
towns, we are ready.
Are you going to vote?
Yes. Although it depends on what the government says.
Voting is a right.
Has the government prepared where you would cast your
votes?
What we have decided is, the way they distributed our
voter’s cards so shall they bring ballot boxes for us to cast our
votes.

source :Premiumtimeng