Written by Yvonne Ndege  



My five days in Maiduguri in north eastern Nigeria - the epicentre of violence perpetrated by the armed group, Boko Haram - was fraught with danger. I had been trying to get access to report from the city for over a year.

I had been told that I needed clearance from the head of Nigeria’s armed forces to report from the ground. I’d also been told that Maiduguri was classified as a “security zone”, off-limits to journalists, according to the ministry of information.

In the end, I decided to take a chance and make the journey, hoping to come out with some reportage but prepared to get absolutely nothing too. All this was against the advice of security advisors, professional colleagues, NGOs and government contacts.

For months I had heard that Boko Haram had taken control of not just Maiduguri, the state capital, but large swathes of Borno State. I had been to Maiduguri a few times before, including in 2009 when I reported on the killing of the group’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, while in police custody.

Before the chaos took hold, I remembered Maiduguri as a surprisingly cosmopolitan and peaceful town, with an eclectic mix of people of different faiths, ethnicities, and subcultures; as well as different types of food and music. The people of Maiduguri had struck me as ordinary people, with a somewhat royal air, steeped in their tradition - but at the same time having a somewhat modern and outward look. Borno State shares borders with the former French colonies of Niger to the north and Chad to the north-east - giving one a strange feeling of being in Francophone Africa too.

During my five days there, I found a Maiduguri under siege by Boko Haram fighters and the Joint Task Force. The colour described above had been replaced by a city enmeshed in road blocks, checkpoints, sandbags on virtually every major road and intersection. The city was patrolled by heavily armed military personnel donning ski masks, poised to fire at any moment.

A TV vehicle like our own, visibly packed with television equipment, could easily provoke suspicion. So our first priority was to unpack our kit at our hotel so we could travel light, and go out and talk to as many people as possible.

It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to film openly in Maiduguri because of the threat of violence from Boko Haram. In our time there we heard the noise of bombs exploding, and bullets being fired - followed by the screeching of JTF sirens that seemed to be coming from all directions. This happened every 2-3 hours. We later learned that Boko Haram had attacked a JTF position with rocket-propelled grenades just adjacent to our hotel.

We were stopped from filming on several occasions by JTF patrols who demanded to know whether we had military clearance to report from the city. It seemed like the only reason we were not forcibly stopped from news gathering was because the soldiers we encountered were familiar with my face and my reports on Boko Haram. This seemed to cool things down. And - it has to be said - the huge popularity of Al Jazeera English in the region helped.

The security situation in Maiduguri is so bad that tens of thousands of people from “Maiduguri-stan”, as some Nigerians nickname the city, have fled. They are unable to live a normal life, not knowing whether they may be caught up in the daily bomb explosions, suicide attacks and gunfire that rocks parts of the city. Those we spoke to who chose to remain in Maiduguri say it’s because it’s their home and they have no other place to go to, or the means to leave for elsewhere.

According to Father David Bridling, from St Patrick’s Catholic Church, half the Christian inhabitants of Borno State have left. But the “irony” of the Boko Haram insurgency is that more Muslims than people of any other faith have been killed by Boko Haram attacks - even though the group claims to want to “grow” Islam in Nigeria.

The curfew in Maiduguri is strictly enforced. No movement is allowed in Borno State between 2000GMT (8pm) and 0500GMT (5am). But inhabitants have adopted their own timetable for staying alive. People we spoke to said nobody tries to leave home before 11am and everyone gets back home by 4pm, as most of the fighting between Boko Haram and the JTF happens in the early hours of the day. If there’s no fighting, people rush out to do whatever small-scale business they can to survive, and quickly return home.

Three senior JTF personnel who were gracious enough to meet with us informally about the situation tried to explain just how bad the Boko Haram crisis is. They used the words “war zone”, “Iraq”, and “guerrilla war” to describe the battle. They explained that Boko Haram fighters are embedded in many of the communities and neighbourhoods in the city, and that it was impossible to distinguish their fighters from civilians.

Two of the JTF personnel expressed confidence that the “war” would soon be over, though another was more sceptical, explaining that Boko Haram fighters’ “jihad” in Nigeria was being inspired by conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. Worryingly for Nigeria and for the region, neighbouring Mali’s northern region - which has recently been overrun by al-Qaeda-linked groups - was mentioned as a possible place from which Boko Haram fighters may be getting weapons. This officer saw no imminent end to the crisis.

Poverty, unemployment, a lack of education, marginalisation, and endemic corruption in Nigeria are cited as some of the reasons why Boko Haram has not been stamped out in over a year of fighting with security forces. There is a feeling that the Nigerian government is not addressing these issues, focusing too heavily on a military strategy to rid the country of the group.

Whatever the case, the journey out of the Boko Haram crisis in Maiduguri, will be a complex one. Until the authorities can find a solution that quells the fighting and stops young men from being recruited to the group, Maiduguri will remain in crisis.

Yvonne Ndege is Al Jazeera’s West Africa correspondent based in Abuja, Nigeria.

FTC... Thank you dear lord

When did Boko haram get lion talkless of den? Pardon me, cos I no bother to read any trash about those beast.

3rd!

If we have people as bold as you Yovnne in Nigeria, Nigeria will be a better place. Keep it up!

After spending my expensive mb to read all this jargons i thereby come to the conclusion that there is nothing new here,its not worthy of news and its not worthy of a frontpage stardom

Boko harams were inspired by prophete muhd n allah(gay bandit) and d evil demonic and terrorist manual called d koran(book of darkness). The solution 2 boko haram is 2 put al d muslims in a dirty container and drop atomic bomb on it,nig wil b peaceful

Such a Bold lady to take the risk.

Wouldn't consider navigating anywhere near that region for any reason.

Please when is the South splitting from this bit<h?

Tanhk the lrod amlihgty. Teh raeson bset konwn to me

phaya: If we have people as bold as you Yovnne in Nigeria, Nigeria will be a better place. Keep it up!

you mean as bold to be able to go to war zones to report?

OMG! Thank God I don't have any cause to near that region. May God bring peace upon that part asap! Another of GEJ's failure, couldn't he just do what actually needs be done? The fact that the people are still socialising will make it extremely difficult to separate the bad eggs from the good ones. Now is a good time to ask for international intervention-it's been more than a year .I fear for christians in that region around xmas.

bizgynbala:

Written by Yvonne Ndege  

According to Father David Bridling, from St Patrick’s Catholic Church, half the Christian inhabitants of Borno State have left. But the “irony” of the Boko Haram insurgency is that more Muslims than people of any other faith have been killed by Boko Haram attacks - even though the group claims to want to “grow” Islam in Nigeria

when i read the bolded, i felt some rush of pity for all the muslims killed and thus repent(change my mind] from shouting that boko haram are killing christians more. Lets see how we can help

C

Mavor: Please when is the South splitting from this bit<h?

You're such a selfish bit<h, people are dying everyday & all your bit<hy arss can think about is "split." Goat, is there any Nigerian city that you don't find people from all around the country living in? Who told you people from southern states don't live there? Christians, Muslims, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Idoma, Tiv, Igala, Ijaw, Efik, Berom, etc etc ALL NIGERIANS live in Borno State just like in every other state of Nigeria & you're here spewing shyte like a drunk imb.ecile. I'm sure you don't live in your "state of origin" right? That's the same way different Nigerians from all works of life live in all parts of Nigeria cos Nigeria is Nigeria & anything that affects any part of Nigeria should affect us all. If you don't have better stuff to say next time, just get ur imb.ecilic-ass roaming the streets. I'm tired of selfish Nigerians like you.

Will dere ever be an end to boko haran ...a believe is not dat wich we control but control us .it can b argued,if Islam is, boko haran wud persist. How do we seprt violence from Islam....

I feel for the people of Borno and Maiduguri esp the innocent ones, but nx time they shld be more careful of the side that sm of them support directly or indirectly.. There are unfortunately always consequencies to supporting a group of Extremists; hope sm of dem hv learnt dat lesson. We pray an end to the crisis very soon, and for God's protectn to d innocent

mrkels: FTC... Thank you dear lord

tunapawizzy:
this cant be God's plan for ur life

LWKMD...I go beat u o...or are you a learner?

Yvonne is not bold to go to maiduguri and report. If she doesn't go, she'll loose her job. Don't u get it?

None is safe
All it takes for this insurgency to escalate& push Nigeria to the brink is for BH to come down south
Is that their Ace card?

*****We are on top of the situation , no cause 4 alarm, atmost we will commiserat with the affected families******

moderatorr: Yvonne is not bold to go to maiduguri and report. If she doesn't go, she'll loose her job. Don't u get it?

Apparently you skipped reading the 2nd an 3rd paragraphs of her article.
Read it again.

moderatorr: Yvonne is not bold to go to maiduguri and report. If she doesn't go, she'll loose her job. Don't u get it?

Apparently you skipped reading the 2nd an 3rd paragraphs of her article.
Read it again.

After Lion's den comes Tiger's den

ebamma 3: After spending my expensive mb to read all this jargons i thereby come to the conclusion that there is nothing new here,its not worthy of news and its not worthy of a frontpage stardom

Look at them Typical Nigerians! Who gives two fledgling f ucks of the amount of mb you have wasted? You call this Jargons? Can you create or report something as decent as this? slowpoke!