I HAD TO LEAVE...

NORTH NIGERIA

First edition: original versionISBN : 978-2-8399-1393-5 Text and photos: Maria Luengo Almada© UNHCR Niger, February 2014

Maria Luengo Almada

I had to leave...North Nigeria

© UNHCR

Foreword

Nigeria and Niger are neighbouring countries. Nigeria has a population ten times larger than Niger.In fact Nigeria is the most populated country on the African continent. Niger, on the other hand, is literally the poorest country on earth.

A civil war, fought without mercy, is ravaging in the north of Nigeria. Thousands have left their homes and crossed the border into Niger. This book is about these refugees and the people and communities which host them.

In November and December 2013 men, women, and children were asked to tell their stories: about the violence that made them flee their homes in Nigeria and the generosity of poor people in Niger who shelter them. This book has been written so that the world finally takes note. In the global statistics of displacement and misery the refugees of Diffa region in southeastern Niger aren't many. There are other places which count many more refugees, living in large and highly visible camps and being fed and kept alive by international charity organizations.

But even if this little book would contain no more than a single story from Nigeria and Niger, it would be still a story worth telling. The book contains a first chapter about Lake Chad with testimonies of people living around the lake, in its shore cities and countless islands. A second one gathers testimonies about the capital cities of Borno and Yobe states. Finally, Niger tells the story of the refugees who have reached safety and that of their hosts in Diffa region.

If you are touched by these testimonies, feel compassion, and agree that more light should be shed on this silent and invisible suffering, then feel free to share this book with your friends.

Karl SteinackerRepresentative of the United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees in the Republic of Niger

The escalation of hostilities between Islamic insurgents and the Nigerian Armed Forces in north-eastern Nigeria provoked a mass displacement of civilians into Niger.

In May 2013, a State of Emergency was declared in the States of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa.

Ranking last on the Human Development Index, Niger is struggling to accommodate and help thousands of displaced families who lost everything.

Without basic infrastructure to provide drinking water, sanitation or proper health care, the host population sees its already difficult livelihood disrupted.

The neighbouring conflict means a further burden for a population that is already suffering from repeated droughts, poor harvests and recurrent floods.

This collection of testimonies illustrates the suffering of those who had to leave their homes and of those who host them.

- What are the means of survival for people here?

"The lake, of course, and Nigeria. There are many settlements, mainly on the islands. There are thousands of islands with bigger markets than on the mainland. The land there is good and fertile; everything grows there. There are many fishermen for fish is abundant. The herders also dwell in the lakeshores for there is enough for the animals to eat and plenty of water.

Further inland is only sand.

This is the real problem: the spread of the desert. There is no grass for the cattle, no farmland and there are too many plagues."

- Then, why people come to Niger where there is not much to eat?

"The whole trouble is routed in this lake. When we had access to the islands, we had enough to eat. This is why we did not leave, in spite of insecurity. Now, without access to the islands we are better off in Niger. After the attack we sold everything we had and with that we were able to run away.

I tell you, if we came to Niger, it is because there was no other choice, no hope.

Can you see the border? Malam Fatouri is only 2 kilometres from here; we could hear the shooting at night during the attacks...

With the conflict in Nigeria, goods arrive very seldom. And prices have already doubled.

This year the crops here in Niger were also not very good. There were terrible floods; the rice and the chillies were lost. Crickets ate vast quantities of crops. When people become so poor, to join the Rebels is one easy way to escape from misery..."

- But Nigeria is a rich country...

"Nigeria is rich because of the petrol but in how many hands is this wealth? You have rich people in Abuja, some in Lagos. There are plenty of poor people in the south. But go north; there the wealth is very far away, inexistent. People across the border are as poor as those in Niger itself."

(Islamic cleric from Maiduguri, Nigeria)

30 million people dwell around the remains of Lake Chad

It is now more than three years since Islamic militants started to apply a radical interpretation of Shari’a law in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, in North Nigeria.

"Why do you want to talk to the refugees?

Refugees are God sent.

Everything is written anyway in the Holy Book. War, refugees, all of that!

Those things do not really exist. It is simply the fate of us all. As it has been written in the Book. As God wants it to be!

This is the only and the one truth. To it you have to obey."

(Spiritual leader. Rebel side)

"They were some sixty-armed men. They formed a circle, chanting loud “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). It was at sunset, there was heavy lighte-ning and thunder, water was pouring all over us. The armed men were in ecstasy, they chanted the name of God for thirty minutes with the severed head of the man in the middle of the circle, the beheaded body at my feet."

(Eyewitness from Borno, Nigeria)

In November 2013, the President of Nigeria extended the State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

"All of us tried to plead. Why were they killing all those men!

“These are the rules”, the masked commander answe-red just before ordering the next execution.”

(Fisherman from Nigeria)

"The armed men returned the next morning. They searched house by house and took us to an open space.

We were some 70 people, mostly women with children or old men; the ones who were not able to run away.

They took three young men from the group and tied their hands in their backs. They put them to their knees and ordered us to close the eyes. We heard three shots.

They had shot them in the back of their heads.

We ran back to avoid the blood touching our feet."

(Women from Maiduguri, Nigeria)

Water seller on the former Lake Chad

LAKE CHAD

BAGA

187

"I ran away after the first big attack. It was a Tuesday. It all started after Maghreb prayers, at sunset, and lasted until Fajr prayers, before sunrise.

The Rebels ambushed the Army and after 40 minutes of cross fire a soldier died and the Army went to get support from the barrack. The Rebels also left. Some bodies were already lying on the streets.

Then, the Army came back.

The soldiers started to burn all the houses that were around the place where their comrade fell. There were loads of soldiers in Army cars. They pulled down the mud-houses with their weapons. I am sure that no less than 3000 houses were destroyed that night. Entire neighbourhoods were destroyed. This is half of the city! I ran until I could no more. It was past midnight when I took refuge in another village. We were by the hundreds, on foot, motorbikes... But some members of my family remained. They told me that at 3 am the fire was still going on.

Neighbourhoods that were spared from the fire during the night were then burned down. The Army made a house-to-house search and arrested people.

I think that around hundred people died in Baga that night. Everybody talks about 187 people killed, but there is another explanation to that. Everybody ran away, mainly towards the lake. So many drowned... The lands around the lake are grassy and swampy and poisonous snakes are very common. We found a dead woman in the fields with her dead baby still attached to her back. She had a snakebite in her leg. Many elderly and the sick people were not able to leave their houses. Many of them burned alive, trapped indoors. Others who looked for refuge in houses were also burned alive.

I spent the following two nights in the open and then I decided to go back. I found half of the city burned down and many dead bodies, animals and people, scattered all over. There was a very strong smell of rotting flesh. At first, neither the Red Cross nor the local NGO were allowed in the city; finally, thanks to the intervention of the Governor at Maiduguri they could bury the bodies.

It took me several days to be able to flee. All my goods were burnt, all my bank notes had turned to ashes."

(Villager from Baga, Nigeria)

"All happened during an attack on Baga, just before Ramadan. My daughter was wounded during the crossfire.

Her baby, the one you see here, was then five months old.

An armed man pulled the baby from her back and pushed my daughter into a burning house where she burned alive. The father of this baby was arrested the next day with many others and killed.

I saw the dead body. He had a bullet in the back of the head. Just one single bullet!

I took the child of my daughter and ran away.

We were five adults and 20 children. We are farmers. But now we have no land to plough.

To meet ends we re-sell sugar and toffee scraps. We also gather straw to sell for animal feed. But without the humanitarian aid... We would not be alive today..."

(Woman from Baga, Nigeria)

"Three months ago a big attack took place. Everything was on fire. There were 187 dead. The Army threw hand grenades in the houses and burned them all."

-187? How are you so sure about that figure?

"We buried the dead; this is why we know the number. We organized the community and had to work very hard for three full days to bury all the bodies. We made individual graveyards and only when there were scattered pieces we put them into a mass grave since those were not complete bodies.

After, there were many incidents, mainly at night. There was Army patrolling in the village. They got information and arrested people. Many were taken away and never came back."

(Madrasa students from Baga, Nigeria)

"It was around seven pm, after prayers, when the explosions started. I saw houses burning, people running away. I also ran away. Several neighborhoods were on fire: Bilaberi, Gudumari, Bagadaga, Pratari... This is like half of Baga.

Some people burned in their houses, we don’t know how many or who... There were also the ones that drowned and those shot dead.

It was already dark and the city was burning. Under the glow of the fire I saw people drowning with my own eyes. Everyone thought they would be able to cross the water.

Mahauta (the quarter of the butchers) burned down during a second attack. After this I never went back. People were saying that there were more than 50 bodies with their throats slit in a nearby island. The humanitarians brought them to the hospital for identification.

I fled with my four children. I knew someone in Niger and they gave us a small room where we live now. I have no land now so to live here is very difficult."

(Woman from Baga, Nigeria)

MALAM FATURI

"The Sunday before Eid we were by the hundreds crossing the river into Niger.

We left after a night attack. Everybody ran away to be spared. In the western part of the town many houses were burned down and several men were captured and killed."

-How do you know that this is not a rumour?

"In Gongue neighbourhood they seized many men. Do you see that house over there? The man who lives there saw how they took his brother away. They disappeared and nobody knows where they are."

-Would he talk to me?

"Everybody is afraid; here also we can get in trouble..."

(Woman from Malam Faturi, Nigeria)

"Nobody knows really how it all started. The Rebels were already present in the village but there was no war. Sometimes they would ask women to dress more modestly; some who were too lightly dressed were flogged. They would also punish the thieves slashing their hands. This was the law there for a while.

Then, the Army came and started to fight them. Whenever they would have information, they would attack the village. Then fighting would break out and houses would burn.

Many families had been obliged to leave since the Rebels were occupying their houses. The Army knew it and came to destroy them.

One day, a big attack took place. The Army came after the Rebels and many people died. They had the wrong information and they threw hand grenades to the wrong houses. By that time everybody had left due to the firing anyway. Of course we lost everything we possessed. There was a row with 11 houses and they all were gutted. None of them housed a Rebel. They bombed the wrong houses... Our houses..."

(Woman from Malam Faturi, Nigeria)

© UNHCR / H.CAUX

THE ISLANDS

DUMBA

"It all started when the Army arrested two Rebels in Baga. After that, Rebels declared all villages around Baga military targets and its inhabitants Army collaborators.

The last Sunday before Eid the Rebels surrounded the island. It was planting season and many men were working there.

When they attacked, they shot every man they saw in the streets. Only 7 died from the bullets. The others, 47 in total, were beheaded. When it happened, I was in Baga. We heard the shootings. When daylight came, we went to see what had happened.

The Rebels saw us and they probably thought that we were the Army so they withdrew towards the lake.

In Dumba, everything was silent. We saw many beheaded bodies in the streets. We searched house by house and found two to three corpses in every hut. Inside the mosque there were four beheaded men and seven more in the fields around. Eight bodies had their eyes plucked!

Later, while we were burying 10 of the bodies, the Rebels shot dead two more men who were attending the ceremony."

(Man from Baga, Nigeria)

Dumba alone left an estimated 500 widows and orphans.Many babies were born after their father’s death.

METELE

"There is a market on the island and killings have become quite common these days. The Legos Alura, sorcerers "who have the magic of the gun" were responsible for many of those killings. The State gave them weapons so they would fight against the Rebels. Instead, they use those weapons to solve internal disputes but avoid fighting the Rebels. They know that this is too dangerous...

We left some 20 days ago, when the Legos Alura militia killed eight herders in Metele. They were actually after the chieftain of the clan but failed to kill him "for he too, was a magician". So to prove their power, the militias attacked the clan of the magic chieftain killing eight herders."

(Victim of Militia violence, Nigeria)

THE CAPITALS

MAIDUGURI

"I lived close to the school in a nice neighbourhood with good concrete houses.

The Army was occupying the school since some time. That night, the Rebels attacked them and the Army took position on the roof of the school shooting all over the place. Most people ran out of their houses and hid. My uncle was killed in the crossfire. We went back home once all was calm. The attack lasted for an hour.

Next morning, armed men came and started to pull down the houses around the school. They threw hand grenades inside and shot whoever was left inside.

Everybody ran, dressed as they were. We women had not even put our veils and on the way, people gave us something to cover.

It took us three days to reach the border."

(Woman from Maiduguri, Nigeria)

"After all the attacks, to live in Maiduguri became impossible. The Army made house-to-house searches every other day. Soldiers flogged my children on their way to the Madrasa. The second time they were going to be flogged they jumped a wall and ran away. The Army accuses anybody who attends the Koranic School of being a Rebel.Men are not allowed to go to the market so they can’t sell goods nor look for work. The Army dispersed those who tried their luck with improvised stands. Nowadays, the market only opens every second day. It is difficult to find food and sometimes we even went hungry.Just after Eid, my nephew got killed. He was 27, the father of three. He worked as a driver. It was 10 in the morning and he was transporting traders from Maiduguri to Baga. The Army had blocked the road just outside Maiduguri so they took a detour. They were discovered and followed by the Army. They shot at the car and the passengers started to run. Some got wounded. My nephew was executed inside his car."

(Widow from Maiduguri, Nigeria)

DAMATURU

"I was wrongly accused of killing my brother. They arrested me and accused me of being an insurgent. The Army kept me in a camp for three days and then transferred me to Damaturu police station where I spent 13 days.

There were two dark cells. In each there were 17 of us. It was so crowded that we could only lie on our sides to sleep. We had to buy our own food and water from the guards. Sometimes they would keep the money and give us nothing. There was no toilet, only a hole in a corner of the room. There were many bugs and mosquitoes all over the place. The cell was very dark and extremely hot since there was just one single vent of about 10 by 20 cm with bars just below the ceiling. We never got water to wash, to clean the toilet or to prepare for prayers. We were very hungry and thirsty.

Some five weeks ago, the evening before my release, we heard shots and people chanting, "let’s burn it" (the police station). So we started to shout to make them aware that we were in.

Then, the Rebels had taken the police station. They interrogated all of us to know what we had done and where we came from before deciding to set us free. There was fire all over and we hid in a safe place while they kept on fighting the Army and the police who were trying to repel the attack. I saw many policemen and soldiers dead.

Finally, the Rebels recognized one of my cellmates and executed him in front of me.

Even today, when I sleep, this image keeps coming back.

At around 11pm the Rebels ordered us to leave and we ran. I walked the whole night until I arrived in Gaidam. I was very hungry and thirsty."

(Villager from Damaturu, Nigeria)

"Three months ago, I went to Jariri Bagarad market in Damaturu, to sell fish. It was early Monday morning when the Army arrived in pickups and surrounded the place. First, they ordered the children to leave; then, the women.

They gathered the men and segregated the old from the young. The elder were ordered to leave - the rest of us remained. We were several hundred young men. They asked everyone for an ID and those who did not have one were separated from the rest and had to stand in a row. I was one of them.

The market is a rectangular place with a large mosque in the centre of the northern wall. We were aligned two by two all along the sewage drain on the left side of the mosque. An Army commander, his face covered, randomly decided whom to kill and whom to spare. Upon his orders, the soldiers would throw a man into the drain where he would be executed with a single shot. We all pleaded for our lives to no avail. The slaughter continued until sunset.

The drain was full with bodies; I counted no less than 50.

I was spared but my neighbours were killed. When it was getting dark, the Army put on the spotlights of the pickups. Soldiers randomly arrested some of those whom they spared and penned them up in their pickups like animals. Some of them suffocated due to the number of men in the vehicles. When they finally left, darkness fell on the market but we could not leave for there was a curfew.

When day broke, I fled with my wife and my seven children."

(Fisherman from Baga, Nigeria)

NIGER

On 13 April 2013, some 500 households left Baga following clashes between the Nigerian Army and Rebel Forces.Those who did not drown in the Komadugu River and did not die of snake bytes arrived in Niger around sunset.

THE HOSTS

"We were just finished with sunset prayers. Still on our knees, we looked up; some twenty faces were looking at us. Women and children mainly, a couple of men...

Everybody was puzzled, them as much as us. It took some time to accommodate everybody; they were so many!

Some women had no veil. The children looked really hungry. The worst, in the house there was not so much food to feed so many mouths..."

(Resident of Bosso, Niger)

“After the Baga attack scores of people arrived in Diffa. You should have seen the bus station at the time... It used to be packed with women and children. There were clouds of them sitting on the floor in groups, not knowing what was their fate. Many would beg for alms.

Some Niger returnees took the road towards their places of origin, Tahoua, Agadez, Zinder, but many were looking for help to be able to pass the night. Every courtyard here was full with people; in my house I lodged a family of 18 for several weeks.“

(Host from Diffa, Niger)

© UNHCR / C. ARNAUD

“The problem is that Diffa is too far from civilization. Already before everything started in Nigeria, we were far behind.

The road to the capital is terrible. It takes 48 hours to arrive there. This is, if you are lucky and have no problems: a car that breaks down, or worse, road bandits looking for you goods...

And still we are privileged to have a so-called road... The villages towards Lake Chad do not even have one. You need a 4 x 4 with an experienced local driver to reach there through the sand; to get lost is very easy... Not to talk about the security risks... Imagine if you would take the wrong section and end up in Chad or in Nigeria... With all the troubles they are going through these days...”

(Official from Diffa, Niger)

THE EXILED

“When we arrived here, we were some 30 - women and children. All of us have lost our fathers, our sons or our husbands. There are orphans who were born after their fathers were killed.

There are 13 people to feed in my house. All families face similar hardship. Back home, I used to polish shoes besides working the fields. There are not so many here who can afford real shoes and I have no land.

I do not know how I would survive without humanitarian aid.”

(Widow from Dumba, Nigeria)

“I arrived here with my 7 children and my sick husband. He died here; we had no money to treat him.

Now my eldest daughter is getting married so that there is one mouth less to feed.

Back home, all my children, boys and girls, went to school. But here I cannot afford such an expense. They have to help so thatthere is enough food in the evening for all. I used to manufacture pasta but here nobody has the money to buy that.”

(Widow from Malam Faturi, Nigeria)

“I left with 50 people; my own children, nine of them, and forty “talibees” (students), who were under my responsibility since very early age. I never returned home. While leaving Baga, I saw burnt bodies and cattle, I was very afraid. I was forced to send most of my students back to their parents. In general they are the sons of nomads who cannot feed their children and entrust at least one of them to the Islamic teachers to have one mouth less at home.”

- Are you sure that the boys find their way back to their families?

“Well... They were with me, many since the age of three... Yes, they might be able to go back...”

- Don’t you fear that they might organize themselves around the eldest student, or the most charismatic, one who may act as their teacher?

“There are some brilliant students... But I think that I don’t want to answer to your question.”

(Islamic Cleric from Baga, Nigeria)

“We are 17 in my family and all I have left is a bag of corn.

This is enough food for 10 days. Well, if we eat moderately. So far we survived on the crops we brought from our fields that we had to abandon.

Now only that much is left...”

(Woman from Tumbunguini, Nigeria)

“We live out of people’s solidarity and thanks to the humanitarian aid. We have to feed our own children plus the ones of those who got killed during the attack. Their fathers were the breadwinners; all had one or two wives and several children. Here we have no access to school and no income.”

- But school is free...

“Yes, but then there is the school material, and we need to look for food. For this we rely on the help of the children since their fathers are no more. Look at this child, even with the humanitarian aid we cannot make her gain weight.”

- Did you ask the local authorities for help?

“No. We are foreigners. Maybe we will get into trouble if we become too visible.”

(Widow from Baga, Nigeria)

ISBN : 978-2-8399-1393-5