Boko Haram Insurgents Steal Food Items To Feed Chibok Girls

Recently, Boko Haram insurgents invaded a lot of villages close to Sambisa Forest in the North East in order to steal food items allegedly to feed the abducted girls.

In the past weeks, the Islamic terrorist group stepped up the looting of villages, markets and food stores in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states for food items including grains and bread, according to Saturday Punch investigations.

Residents of these communities disclosed that the insurgents were usually satisfied when communities raised money for them towards "God’s work," but lately they had stepped up their activities by invading the villages and carting away food items.

With the pressure on Nigerian soldiers to clamp down on the Islamic sect, it was learnt that the insurgents no longer felt safe to go to markets to buy food items for fear of being arrested. 

Some of the insurgents recently met their waterloo in Madagali, Adamawa State, where they were given up by a local food vendor from whom they had planned to buy foodstuffs. Reportedly, members of a vigilance group pounced on them and killed over 70 of them while seven others were handed over to the police.

Residents of Limankara, Kamuyya, Kirenowa, Kimba and Makor communities in Borno State said the insurgents usually carried away food items and livestock after killing people in their areas in recent attacks.

The scenario of these attacks are always the same. The heavily armed terrorists invade the village, open fire into the crowd killing innocent residents, start burning houses, shops and vehicles and stealing foodstuff.

During these endless attacks, dozens of people were killed as the hoodlums were well armed with sophisticated weapons.

In Kamuyya village, Borno state, a resident, Bukar Umar, said over 20 insurgents, who must have emerged from the bush, stormed the Kamuyya weekly market when traders were conducting their businesses and opened fire into the crowd before setting shops and vehicles on fire. Twenty people were killed on the spot and almost all the shops were burnt in the market.

The insurgents on Sunday intercepted a vehicle loaded with bread, killed the four occupants and drove the vehicles towards Sambisa Forest. The vehicle, which was on its way to Polka from Gwoza, was attacked at Waraba village.

Recently, Nigerian journalist, Ahmad Salkida, who is trusted by both the Federal Government and the Boko Haram leader as a mediator, allegedly visited the camp where the abducted schoolgirls were being kept.

According to Sakilda, who claimed to have seen the abducted schoolgirls, they are "well fed and adequately sheltered."

It was gathered during the week that the insurgents resorted to stealing following the shortage of food to feed themselves and their hostages.

It was also learnt that the violent sect had begun to pile up food items in preparation for a long drawn battle with the military, especially as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Israel and other foreign collaborators are assisting the Federal Government to ensure the safe return of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

With the allied forces believed to be on the ground to help the Nigerian military rescue the girls, it was learnt that the insurgents did not want to be caught unawares by running out of strategic resources, especially food.

Unconfirmed reports had indicated that certain helicopters used to drop food items and other needs in the Sambisa stronghold of the Boko Haram group.

Security experts said the growing focus on the Sambisa forest must have disrupted the routine of the helicopters, thus putting pressure on the group’s supply chain and fueling more attacks on villagers in the North-East.