TIMELINE: Decade after Chibok, Boko Haram reenacts mass abduction in Borno

For a decade now, Nigeria has lived with the terror of the mass abduction of students from their schools in the northern part of the country.

Between 2014 and now, there were at least 12 major cases of mass kidnapping of pupils and students from their schools. However, the recent abduction of over 400 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno underscores the threat that the Boko Haram insurgency continues to pose in states in the northeastern region of the country.

The latest incident in the state came nearly a decade after the terrorist group first abducted schoolgirls en masse in Chibok in April 2014.

Since then, kidnappings for ransom have become almost a daily occurrence across Nigeria. Many victims did not survive the experience – they were brutally tortured and killed by their heartless captors.

The unrelenting attacks have heightened feelings of insecurity in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory.

A review of some of the major mass abductions recorded in Nigeria over the past decade shows that the targets are mostly schools, worship centres and rehabilitation facilities for IDPs among others. Their victims are mostly women and schoolgirls. While the heightened fears have discouraged many from attending schools, several schools and healthcare facilities have been closed as a result of these incidents.

Over the past decade, more than 1,680 schoolchildren have been kidnapped in Nigeria.

The frequency and wantonness of the attacks and killings by terrorists have been described as a “shocking indictment on the Nigerian authorities” by international humanitarian groups.

In this report, PREMIUM TIMES highlights cases of abduction by insurgents in Borno State over the past decade. The state is the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Timeline of insurgency attacks in Borno

Since 2009 when the Islamic sect, dubbed Boko Haram by locals because of the sect’s abhorrence of Western ways of life, including education, emerged in the once peaceful and prosperous state of Borno, the deadly sect has continued to undermine Nigerian public authorities through heinous attacks on communities and public facilities.

The sect has claimed responsibility for killings of politicians, security agents, traditional rulers and prominent citizens and abductions in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states, among others.

Boko Haram terrorists have also attacked and looted banks and other financial institutions, stealing hundreds of millions of Naira in the process to “promote the Jihad of God,” as it claimed.

Between 2010 and 2012, the group resorted to extorting hapless civilians, especially public office holders and business people. Many victims were killed for either failing to meet ransom demands or for seeking protection from security operatives.

Within this period, several communities/local government areas fell under the control of the terrorist group.

In April 2013, over 100 people were killed in Baga—a local government area at the shoreline of Lake Chad, more than 400 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the state capital— during an encounter between the military Joint Task Force and the insurgents. At the time, the MJTF accused the locals of shielding insurgents who hid behind women and children to attack government forces.

On 14 April 2014, Boko Haram terrorists abducted 276 schoolgirls from their dormitories in Chibok, a town in Borno State. At the time, the students were writing their final year examinations. About 57 of the girls managed to escape while on transit with their abductors, while several others were eventually released following negotiations between the government and the armed groups.

The frequency of attacks prompted former president Muhammadu Buhari to direct the military high command to relocate to Maiduguri and concentrate on the fight against insurgents, shortly after Mr Buhari assumed office in 2015.

However, this did not deter the insurgents from striking again and again. In 2018, about three years after the military moved its command to Maiduguri, 110 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram fighters from the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi town in neighbouring Yobe state.

Although significant progress was recorded in the fight against the insurgents in the northeast under Mr Buhari’s eight-year reign, banditry and kidnappings became widespread in the north-central and north-western regions of the country.

This week, PREMIUM TIMES reported that armed groups carried out mass abduction of residents across communities in Borno and Kaduna states, heightening the feelings of insecurity and compounding the economic hardship in Nigeria under the watch of President Bola Tinubu.

The first reports on the Borno abductions emerged on Tuesday a United Nations official said they occurred on 29 February.

On Friday, the president confirmed the development but did not provide the number of victims kidnapped. He, however, said he had directed the security and intelligence agencies to immediately rescue the victims and ensure that the perpetrators of the crime were found and punished.

However, on Friday afternoon, Amnesty International (AI), which has a presence in the affected states and partners with some non-governmental organisations, said over 400 persons including women and children were abducted in the development.

According to AI, the abducted individuals are largely IDPs from Babban Sansani, Zulum and Arabic IDP camps in Gamboru Ngala, Borno State.

Amnesty also confirmed that 287 pupils and teachers were abducted in the Kaduna incident, possibly by a different terror group.

The recent attack suggests that Boko Haram terrorists still operate in many parts of Borno despite the efforts of security agencies. Borno is the state most affected by the insurgency.