— 2nd April 2016How we planned to overthrow governmentBy Our reporterSEATEDin his father’s office in Lagos, Baana Bulama, an indigene ofBama in Borno State, hissed out loud when the news was flashed on television that 16 women were abducted in Adamawa by suspectedBoko Haram members. “I was once obsessed like they are now. Someone needs to educate them,” he said in apparent reference to the insurgents.What past?This reporter who was in that office with Baana asked him. Pointing at his father, Baana said, “My father saved me.”His father, Alhaji Bulama (First namewithheld), a successful bureau de change operator in Lagos, encouraged him to share his story withSaturday Sun. In a follow up chat, Baana who is now a banker opened up on his links with Boko Haram, his rise in the terror group and his eventual exit.His RecruitmentRecalling how it began, Baana said he was convinced to listen to one of the teachings of the late founder of the Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf, by his best friend. “For almost6 months, my closest friend told me to attend the fellowship of a new scholar in town known as Mohammed Yusuf. I was in my second year in the university and was more determined to read and bethe best in my class. I refused to be lured but he kept telling me that a trial would convince me.“In February 2008, I made up my mind to follow him to Markaz community where Mohammed’s mosque was located. He organised four types of programmes known as Hadith, Koran, Sira and Figh. The dayI decided to join them fell on the dayof Sira teaching which was more about the biography of Prophet Mohammed. Mohammed Yusuf was a very intelligent man and a great orator. He was gifted; it was just like listening to President Obama speak.“His group was known asJama’atu Ahlus Sunnah Li Dawa’awati Wash Shar’i, it was after he was interviewed on one Hausa radio station in 2009, that he chose the name, Boko Haram.“I was impressed because I got to know a lot about the Prophet Mohammed which I never knew anything about. Then, he had not said anything about western education. I became addicted and made sure that I never missed any of his programmes. I was more interested in attending his programme than attending classes. Above all, my relatives including a medical doctor were also interested and that was also encouraging. It was when he started talking about western education that my relatives, even my friend, stopped attending. “Unlike others, Baana’s passion for knowledge further drove him deeper into the affairs of the sect. “I was so obsessed with his teaching that I decided to stay back. I also knew theimportance of education. So, I kept going to school, the only difference was that I began to miss classes.“In the open hall, they normally arranged three seats and it was only Yusuf and two of his commanders that were allowed to seat on it while all of us would sit on the floor and faced them. Yusuf started preachingseriously against western education,to the extent that other scholars heard about it and warned him to desist from such.“To further convince him, the scholars invited him severally to a debate which we called the Muqabala competition. He was summoned severally for the debate and he won most of the time. He was even invited to Saudi Arabia to adebate over the matter and I was informed that he was defeated severally. If Yusuf had won the debate all through, maybe, I would have stayed away from school completely.
“I was actually preparing to sell some of my father’s property in Maiduguri and hand over the money to Yusuf. I was determined to be oneof those who will sit on that seat oneday. Although I was further convinced that he knew nothing about western education when he was involved in an open debate with one scholar from Zaria known as Albani. He lost the debate and openly admitted that he was wrong to have condemned western education. Albani advised him to also tell his followers the truth but when he came back, he did not. Albani then went to the media and challenged Yusuf to come and tell the truth about the outcome of the debate.“I was shocked that he did not comeout to refute that allegation that waswhy I decided not to be totally carried away. But I decided to stay because it felt good. Meanwhile, I indirectly started listening to Albani’s teachings. During that time, he was arrested severally by the DSSand taken to Abuja but was later released.“After those arrests, he came back and advised us to prepare ourselves for possible trouble ahead. He told us to buy any type of weapon that we could afford, even if it was grenade or AK47. I did not have much money then, so I bought a small gun, arrow, bow and several machete. I became security conscious and anyone around me became a suspect.”Apart from his quest for knowledge, Baana wanted the entire community to identify him with the teachings of Yusuf. “It was obvious that I had started attending his meetings because my dressing showed it. I was always wearattending his meetings because my ing, pure white dress and carrying a stick. That was our identity then. A lot of graduates who were with us openly tore their certificates. Even a medical doctor that I knew very well tore his certificates, stopped going to work at the hospital and concentrated his energy in serving Yusuf. Then, if you were bold enough to sacrifice all, you would behonoured with a good position amongst the sect. Many of us sold their houses and gave everything to Yusuf.The rule then was that you would give 100 percent of your earnings and depend on families of members of the sect for feeding. We saw ourselves as brothers, so, you are willing to share with everyone.“What I normally did was to give them 98% of my pocket money and manage 20%. My family had money, so I was able to buy a motorcycle which I used to take myself to his mosque and also to school.“I made sure that I gave 98% of any money that came my way. We were so obsessed that many of us sold everything we had. You would see a successful businessman would just close his shop, sell his goods worth millions of nairs and hand them overto Yusuf.“To teach us how things should be, Yusuf closed down his businesses in Maiduguri. He told us that he sold everything and had dedicated the proceeds to sponsoring the activities of the sect.“He did not sell his house or the carsthat he was driving then. He even got married to the daughter of a former commissioner in Borno State and his in-law later joined him. He was the leader we believed should represent us well. He told us that thereason why he had television in his house was for him to monitor what was going on in the country.”
Our plan to overthrow governmentAll through the period that Baana attended the sect’s programmes, he believed all their plans would be achieved peacefully one day. “No one forced me to join them, and I believed that through evangelism, we could convert a lot of persons. He told us severally that he was a man of peace, and that was why we should not confront government with arms. However, he disclosed that being a man of peace did not mean that he did not have the capacity to take over the state. Sometimes at night, trucks would come to his compound and everyone would be asked to go to the mosque to pray.“All was well untill policemen shot and killed five of our members. To reduce crime in the state, government formed a new security outfit called ‘Operation Flush.’ They banned the use of Okada on the streets of Maiduguri town. In an attempt to enforce that law, they clashed with some of our members and five persons were killed.“It was then that we saw the other side of Yusuf, he became aggressiveand openly threatened that we were going to fight back. He said that he was going to overthrow the government then and enforce Sharialaw. He said that we are no fools andthat he decided not to be violent because he knew that Islam is a religion of peace.
http://sunnewsonline.com/muhammed-nur-shekaus-deputy-more-violent-ex-member/
