The spiritual warfare against
Boko Haram has officially commenced in Borno state.
Babagana Zulum, the governor, has
secretly recruited 1,000 traditional hunters from different parts of the
north-east and north-west.
They are believed to possess
supernatural powers to resist gun shots and also disappear and appear — like
Japanese ninjas.
Zulum, a professor of
engineering, has become apprehensive over the resurgence of Boko Haram in his
state despite the efforts of the military.
Last week, the Nigerian army
organised a seminar on using spiritual warfare to counter insurgency.
Zulum had only Friday in Mecca,
Saudi Arabia, directly engaged 30 devotees for daily supplication around
Ka’aba, Islam’s holiest site, to pray for peace in the state which has been the
epicentre of the insurgency since July 2009.
A source familiar with the secret
recruitment said the governor may have decided to try unconventional means to
supplement efforts of the military.
It was learnt that the recruitment
was intensified in the last two weeks with the traditional hunters armed and
administered the oath of allegiance using the Qur’an, Islam’s most sacred book.
The hunters are largely Muslims.
 |
| Superhuman or supernatural powers were often associated with the Japanese ninja, according to a Wikipedia entry. Some legends include flight, invisibility, shapeshifting, the ability to “split” into multiple bodies, the summoning of animals, and control over the five classical elements. |
Although the state government has
been recruiting thousands of local hunters, vigilantes and the civilian JTF for
years, they were volunteers from Borno.
“This is the first time outsiders
have been engaged,” the source said.
“They are being brought into
Borno in batches, often during the night in order to evade public attention.”
They are provided with dane guns,
swords and anything they ask for, it was further learnt.
The source said: “The special
hunters are being identified from all parts of the north-east and north-west, in
particular, and engaged by a team of trusted aides assigned by Governor Zulum.”
Zulum had in June 2019, a month
after he was sworn in, appointed a retired army colonel as special adviser on
security.
He also increased monthly
allowances of thousands of existing volunteers under the civilian JTF.
He immediately acquired 160
patrol vehicles and surveillance gadgets which he distributed to the fighters
he inherited.
NigerianEye could not confirm the
actual number of new hunter-fighters being recruited, but they are over a
thousand.
They are being deployed in
northern Borno — which has 10 of Borno’s 27 local government areas.
Nigeria’s share of the Lake Chad
is substantially located in places in northern Borno.
Boko Haram insurgents are said to
be in control of local and international water ways of Baga, a major fishing
community in Kukawa local government area, also in northern Borno.
The insurgents are believed to impose
taxes on all water ways transportation to generate funds for their activities.
Northern Borno is also where oil
prospecting was being carried out by the NNPC. The oil search has largely been
halted owing to activities of the insurgents.
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