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•Brave volunteer fighters killed after 13 Boko Haram battles
Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
They were uncommon fighters. Brave and fearless, they were determined to get rid of the Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged and ruined several parts of the troubled Borno State in the North-East of Nigeria.
They were volunteers for the group known as Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
For these men, rescuing Borno was a mission that must be accomplished. And they fought Boko Haram in over 13 battles in the central part of the state, coming out unhurt. Sadly, a suicide attack on their location recently ended their selfless service to the state.
Babagana Kolo and his colleagues, Loma and Ibrahim, were among over 1,000 volunteers that first sent Boko Haram out of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, in August 2013. Their courageous move ended the serial killings of residents and security personnel by the murderous group in the city. They smoked and chased out the insurgents from their hiding places, mostly in Old Maiduguri, Abaganaram, Shehuri, Costain, Kofar Maila, Kofa Biu and Budum, among others. The ubiquitous Boko Haram was demystified and literally banished from the capital, forcing the insurgents to flee to the suburbs and hinterlands.
Konduga, a serene local government area about 35 kilometres from Maiduguri, became a big target, as the insurgents thirsted to return to the capital to no avail, thanks to Kolo and his dogged colleagues who later formed the crop of the state-backed CJTF.
For Boko Haram, overrunning Konduga was significant, military sources said, because the area was the gateway to Maiduguri from the central part of the state, which was the operational base of the insurgents. Sambisa, Boko Haram’s base, was also located in the area.
Little wonder that the insurgents carried out over 13 deadly attacks on Konduga between mid-2014 and early 2015. But all the attacks were thwarted by the military, assisted by the CJTF, who knew the terrain well.
“Kolo and his boys were always watching from the telecommunication mast day and night, and they communicated to us on the ground immediately. As such, we already knew the distance of the insurgents and the calibre of their weapons before they struck,” a soldier who fought in the town in 2015 said.
“They were selfless in service, receiving no salary except a token from the state for their feeding,” the soldier, who did not want to be named, added.
Kolo and his colleagues were also said to have fought Boko Haram in the bush, with soldiers occasionally leading the way to the insurgents’ camps.
“They were very brave and helpful to us in Konduga during our battles there in 2014,” another soldier who fought with the CJTF men wrote after receiving the news of their death. “May the almighty Allah grant them paradise for their selfless service to humanity.”
A suicide bomber had detonated explosives near the telecommunication mast in Konduga last week, killing all the five CJTF men. Kolo, aged about 42, the chairman of the CJTF at Konduga, was said to have accosted the bomber when he sighted him approaching the location. The bomber immediately triggered off the explosives strapped to his body, killing himself and the CJTF men.
Residents of Konduga described the men as “fighters with uncommon courage.” They said the men sacrificed their lives to prevent the bombers from gaining access to crowded areas, where returnees from the internally displaced persons’ camps were undergoing a registration exercise.
“It is sad they died this way, but we can’t question Allah. I urge government to assist their families, especially the education of their children, so that their selfless service will not be in vain,” Sheriff Mohammad told Daily Sun in Maiduguri.
Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, described the death of the CJTF men as painful, a great loss. He, however, urged others not to be discouraged.
