Executions, hands cut off at the wrist, stonings and beatings – these are just some of the punishments a citizen is given if he does not follow the rules when living under the caliphate of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
After 13 years of the insurgency in northeast Nigeria, the government has often claimed that there is “not a single community” that is still under the rule of any extremist groups.
But RNI has discovered that is not true and there are still communities in the northeast of the country that are run by insurgents.
RNI’s head of news, Mamman Mahmood, spoke to two people who are living under ISWAP rule. Neither the people nor the area can be disclosed for security reasons.
For the sake of the story and especially for their safety, we shall call the people Number One and Number Two.
“We have been living under the control of ISWAP insurgents for the past year. Our community is mainly made up of farmers. For years we have farmed the land and reared animals. That has always been the way we have made a living,” said Number One. “Before all the violence, we were living peacefully and then the insurgents began their reign of terror and expelled us from our town, forcing us to flee to Damboa.”
Number One said living in an internally displaced persons’ camp was hard, especially because they had no means of making a living as they could not farm.
“Some of our people started going into the bushes in search of firewood. There they met some ISWAP insurgents who told them that we had committed bad things and that was why we were being tested with hardships and displacement. But they asked the wood collectors to convey a message to us. If we shunned what we were doing, they would allow us to return to our town as long as we obeyed their orders.”
Number One said life in the camp in Damboa was hard. There was a time when they did not have food to eat and water to drink. It got worse and worse in the camp where they did not even have decent shelter. There was nothing to sustain them because they could not farm and there were no other jobs they could do.
“ISWAP’s message was loud clear: We could go back to our town and community and farm again. But, if we accepted their invitation to resettle back into our community, there was one condition: We would be allowed back only if we lived according to their rules. And that is how we have lived for a year now. We live in the same town with them and it is peaceful. We are no longer afraid of being attacked. It has been a good thing that we decided to accept their invitation.”
When asked what it was like living under ISWAP rule, Number One said: “We pay revenues to show that we are recognised under the caliphate and they give us receipts which serve as a witness. From time to time they invite their representatives to preach to us, calling for us to join them and reminding us that anyone who did not believe in their ways was not with them. And they also remind and warn us not to commit any offence because, if we do, we will be punished harshly.”
Number One said they had not been forced to join the sect but the insurgents had a way of luring many of the adolescents, who got carried away by their sugarcoated words and ended up joining them. No adults had been forced or wanted to join.
“They make sure we have no contact with the government or non-governmental organisations [NGOs]. They have checkpoints where they interrogate anyone leaving or coming into the town. They use us as errand people to do their shopping for them in Damboa and towns around our community.
“The problem we encounter when shopping for the insurgents is that the residents look at us suspiciously and treat us badly because we live with insurgents. They do not consider the situation that forced us into deciding to live with them.”
Number Two said: “We follow ISWAP’s orders and remain at peace because, if we did not, we would have a serious problem. When we farm, we give them one in every 10 bags of our harvest and one of every 30 animals belongs to them. They collect the animal every six months and the harvest after the rainy season. They say it is a tax we have to pay,” he said.
“If they find out that someone has any kind of relationship or is in contact with the government, they immediately execute that person. For stealing the punishment is having your hands cut off at the wrist. If you commit adultery, the punishment is being stoned to death. And you will be beaten for doing drugs.
“Sometimes when they encounter an offence they cannot judge, they take the offenders to Talala or Mbuk, where their leaders decide on the punishment. From there, they either execute, imprison or beat the person. If that person does not return after two to three months, we know that person is no more.”
Number Two said he knew of many people who had returned. “Some were gone for less than two weeks. But when they return no one asks what happened to them. No one dares narrate what the punishment was that they had undergone. The insurgents have told them not to say anything about what happens to them while they are gone. The only thing we know is what we see; sometimes you can see that their hands have been cut, sometimes there are scars from being beaten, sometimes you can see bruises.”
Number Two said the government knew that insurgents were still in control of some communities and that they were mixing with residents.
“I think, in the long run, this could be a way to fight the insecurity that rages in the northeast. And maybe the Nigerian government should think about that and consider it as an option.”
AISHA SD JAMAL
