Anambra Indigene Sad Story: I was Forcibly Recruited by Boko Haram in Jos

  Mr. Oyebuchi Romanus who hailed from Ekwusigo Local Government Area in Anambra State yesterday disclosed that he was forcibly recruited by the Boko Haram insurgents in Jos, Plateau State, where he was doing business.

Romanus, who told journalists in Yola that he was recruited by the insurgents in May this year, added that he was taken to a place near Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State by insurgents for training against his wish.

He said it was the prayers of Nigerians that helped him to escape from the   training camp of the insurgents near Madagali.

The 34-year-old Igbo man, while narrating his ordeal, said he was forcibly recruited in May this year  by insurgents shortly after he had lost his business in a  bomb blast  that rocked  Jos.

He explained that while he was lamenting over the loss of his business, unknown men forcibly put him in the boot of their car and later discovered that they were driving towards the Northern part of the country.

Romanus said he couldn’t do anything because he was drugged and later fell asleep in their car after he was brought out of the boot of the car..

On reaching their destination, his abductors finally introduced themselves as members of the Boko Haram sect.

He said he was asked by his abductors to join them or they would kill him which he agreed and that, and later escaped from their training camp close to Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

“I accepted to join the Boko Haram group to save my life. My religious belief and upbringing forbid me from killing my fellow human being which made me not to participate in any of their activities, and when they realised this, they started threatening my life even to the point of swearing in the name of Allah(God) that they would killed me if l continue to dodge their activities, but when I saw how serious they were, I decided to run away from their camp to Niger Republic when I was asked to fetch water from a nearby river before finding my way back to the state,” he narrated.

Also Mr. John Matthew, a native of Madagali, told journalists in Yola that some of them were forcibly recruited but he said he was abandoned by the insurgents in a desert because he fell ill and managed to escape to Yola, the state capital.

In another development, the uncle of the acting Governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Umaru Fintiri, was reportedly killed by the Boko Haram insurgents in his Madagali residence.

Pa Wazintu, the 75-year-old father of Mr. Tanko Wazintu, who is a first cousin and has been the personal aide to the acting governor since he was the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, was reported to be among the old men killed by the insurgents in Madagali and Michika.

Tanko said his father was killed in the presence of his step-mother and his younger sister by the insurgents when they stormed their compound in the night on last week.

He lamented that the insurgents forced his sister and the mother to sleep with his father’s corpses for three days before burying him.

“My sister and step-mother were the ones who were forced to dig a hole to bury my father after being forced to sleep with his corpse for more than 72 hours,” he said

Tanko said his father was buried by his younger sister and step-mother because the men who were supposed to bury him ran away for fear of being killed by the insurgents who had stormed the town and taken control of it.

Culled From This Day