Former female Boko Haram members cry for husbands

Arewa PUNCH investigations have revealed that as more Boko Haram insurgents who surrender their arms and ammunition to the government and renounce acts of terrorism and banditry continue to be reintegrated into the life of normalcy, there are big concerns that the females among them are increasingly finding it difficult to get male spouses.

More findings indicate that even as the repentant terrorists are settled into their various home communities, the females among them have complained that since their return, it has been difficult for them to marry as the law-abiding men in the society avoid them like a plague.

This fresh concern, Arewa PUNCH gathered, constitutes a matter for serious concern to the various  community leaders.

Our correspondent reports that official records put the total number of surrendered insurgents and their families at 162,000, but no such records show the number of spinsters, divorcees, or widows among them.

Some of the leaders of the communities have complained to Arewa PUNCH that their men are scared of venturing into any form of romance with the surrendered female insurgents despite the fact that some of the ladies have been expressing their secret desire for suitors to marry or remarry them.

“These ladies desperately want to marry or remarry, but men seem scared of them, as no suitors approach them with such proposal,” a ward head at Old Maiduguri, Modu Grema Wakil, complained to Arewa PUNCH in Maiduguri, on Monday,

READ ALSO:

• PDP crisis: How G60 reps aborted pro-Wike camp’s plan to endorse Damagun
• Fresh crisis rocks NNPP as party’s BOT suspends Kano Governor
• Video of bandits cracking jokes with expatriate goes viral

“I have not compiled the number of such ladies, but they send messages to us as community leaders over the matter,” he said.

Wakil continued: “Our fear is that if these women and girls do not get the men to marry, they may be tempted to renege on their repentance vow from terror activities and return to the bush.

“But when they get suitors and marry or remarry in the law-abiding society, other girls and women still in the bush could be encouraged to surrender and come back home.”

Asked if the problem was a matter of societal stigma, the community leader assured: “No. I don’t think so because the societal stigma against them is waning.”

He stressed,  “but we are severely pained by the fact that suitors are scared of marrying them, because most people still don’t believe they have genuinely repented, and, therefore, they may slaughter their husbands and flee back to the bush.”

Wakil called on the Borno State government to create a database of such repenting female insurgents with a view to persuading suitors to approach them and organising marriages for them.

Further expressing his fears, he maintained: “The inability to marry or remarry at home may tempt them to renege on their repentance.”

Responding, the Borno State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zuwaira Gambo, told Arewa PUNCH that, “It is a welcome development that they are expressing their desire to marry or remarry, because it will help to stabilise them in the law-abiding society.”

She said the state government would work with the Maiduguri-based NGO, Allamin Foundation, to create the required database for that purpose.

“The Foundation has forwarded to us the Charter of Demands of the various victims of the insurgency, including such women and girls,” Gambo stated, pointing out further, “We are still expecting a report from the Foundation on such demands to enable us do the needful for every set of victims.”

Efforts by our correspondent to speak with some of the ladies did not yield fruit as it was difficult to get them to speak with Arewa PUNCH for fear of being further stigmatised  especially in a setting as the north.

Moreover, many of them are said to have melted into the population, but preferring to raise their concerns to their various community leaders through the third party.

Former female Boko Haram members cry for husbands

PUNCH

Video of bandits cracking jokes with expatriate goes viral

A video showing bandits cracking jokes with an expatriate on an open field has gone viral.

The location, names of the bandits or the identity of the white man could not be ascertained.

The gang repeatedly said, “Hasbunallahu wa ni’mal Wakeel’, meaning, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.”

One of the bandits in dreadlocks, who seemed to be the leader of the gang with a rifle hanging from his right arm, was seen joking and holding the white man from behind.

READ ALSO:

• Man beats relative to death during father’s burial in Ogun
• UCL: Dortmund beat Atletico Madrid to reach semi-final as Barca suffer blow against PSG
• Suspected herdsmen kill 28 in fresh attack on Benue community

One of them said, “Here is a white man in the flesh,” as the white man jokingly urged the deadlocked gang leader to hold him well.

“Allahu Akbar! The deadlocked man was not killed. It’s a fat lie. He was not killed.”

Zagazola Makama, counter insurgency expert, identified the spot as Gusau – Sokoto road.

“Dreaded bandit kingp8n Mai-Jakka is shown cracking jokes freely with one of d construction company’s engineers handling Gusau – Sokoto road,” he tweeted.

Video of bandits cracking jokes with expatriate goes viral

Man beats relative to death during father’s burial in Ogun

It was gathered that the incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. when an argument was said to have broken out between the deceased and Gbadebo while making arrangements for their late father’s burial ceremony at their family house in Ìjemò-Agbadu.

A police source who was privy to the matter when it was reported at the Oke-Itoku Divisional Police Headquarters but spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the case, stated that Gbadebo was said to have punched the deceased in the chest following the heated argument.

Also, the victim’s sister, identified as Bose Ajani, was said to have told the police, according to a police document sighted on Monday, that the deceased collapsed shortly after he was punched in the chest.

The incident was said to have thrown the family members who had gathered for the burial party which was slated for the next day, into a state of pandemonium and chaos.

“The family members gathered to prepare for the final burial of their late father, scheduled to take place on Sunday. But while the arrangements were ongoing, there was an argument between Gbadebo and Gbenro.

READ ALSO:

• UCL: Dortmund beat Atletico Madrid to reach semi-final as Barca suffer blow against PSG
• Suspected herdsmen kill 28 in fresh attack on Benue community
• Naira abuse: EFCC moves against Cubana chief priest

“Nobody thought it could degenerate into a fight. It was unexpected when Gbadebo suddenly hit Gbenro in the chest. Gbenro immediately slumped as a result of the punch and was rushed down to a hospital, where he was declared dead by a doctor on duty,” the cop stated.

While confirming the incident to our correspondent via a WhatsApp message on Monday, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, said Gbadebo was arrested shortly after the matter was reported at a police station.

She said, “The victim and suspect are relatives. They went for a burial ceremony at their family house in Abeokuta. It was during the arrangements for the burial that an argument ensued between the duo. Gbadebo reportedly hit the deceased in the chest, who collapsed immediately after.

“He was rushed to Ijaye General Hospital where he was subsequently confirmed dead. The corpse has been deposited at the hospital mortuary for postmortem examination. In the meantime, we have arrested the suspect, and the case will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for a thorough investigation.”

Recall that  in 2018 a 32-year-old man named, Julius Oliseh, was arrested by the command for allegedly stabbing 23-year-old Isikilu Shittu to death at a burial party in Mowe community in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state.

An argument, it was gathered, had ensued between Oliseh and Shittu, before the suspect reportedly broke a bottle and stuck it in Shittu’s neck, which led to his death.

The erstwhile command spokesperson, Oyeyemi Abimbola, said, “Akeem reported that he was at a burial party with his brother in Ogunru village via Mowe when an argument ensued between the suspect and his late brother over an undisclosed minor matter.

“Consequently, he said the suspect broke a bottle and stabbed the victim in the neck, and he died on the spot.”

Man beats relative to death during father’s burial in Ogun