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| Nigerian soldiers |
"It was like a military coup here two months ago when
all the government officials ran away," said a white-bearded elder in
Kirenowa, as he described how his village in northern-eastern Nigeria came
under the control of the Islamist group known as Boko Haram.
"We were in real difficulty when Boko Haram were here;
life was terrible - they extorted our money," he told the BBC in the
village which lies just 40 kilometres from the porous border with Cameroun.
"They were moving around in the village with their cars
- they went to (nearby) places like Chikunguldo and Wulgo as well as inside
Chad."
A short distance along the sandy road within the district of
Marte there are the hallmarks of the militants; the burnt-out church and the
remains of the village police station, which was also gutted by fire.
In front of the roofless, blackened building is the carcass
of a burnt car.
The Nigerian military offered to take journalists in a
protected convoy to these areas of Borno State in an effort to highlight what
it describes as key gains in the fight against Boko Haram.
Just over three weeks ago, President Goodluck Jonathan
declared a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.
He announced a renewed military offensive after making the
somewhat surprising announcement that Nigerian territory had been seized by
Boko Haram.
Earlier this year, Boko Haram's black flag replaced
Nigeria's green and white one in several villages of Borno State, including
Marte - a sign that the insurgents were under little pressure from the Nigerian
armed forces.
These areas close to the shrinking shores of Lake Chad are
extremely remote and poor.
Travelling by road North-east from the state capital,
Maiduguri, the crumbling infrastructure is evident.
Sections of the tarmac road look as though they have been
hit by an earthquake and drivers are forced to take to the sand, which is
steadily swallowing the concrete, cable-less electricity poles.
It is no surprise that decades of neglect by successive
governments and the biting poverty, played into the hands of the jihadists
looking for recruits.
"Some of them join because they are interested in
handling guns because that's new to them, and some are aware that it is a way
of getting some money," said a young man in his early 20s, who pointed to
the lack of job opportunities in the area.
"All we do is fishing and farming, although some of us
engage in the black market selling fuel or petty trading."
We were driven to a former Boko Haram camp north of the
village of Kirenowa.
The presence of items such as medical gloves suggest there
may have been a small clinic there, although it is impossible to know how many
people ever stayed on the site.
An initial security briefing said there was no fight for the
camp - Boko Haram members set fire to the vehicles they could not move and fled
before the military moved into the area.
Journalists were later told the militants were preparing to
leave when the air force and ground troops struck.
"Some of them have been able to withdraw to Chad and we
are making efforts to pursue them," said Lt Col Danladi Hassan, who was
the commander in charge of the operation to retake the camps.
Was he surprised that they had managed to establish bases?
It seems not.
"We've been hearing about the camp for some time and
we've been planning for it," said Hassan.
"And that's why we came in and ensured they were
dislodged."
You might wonder why, if the army knew about the Boko Haram
camps, they took time before targeting them, seeing as the nearby villages were
steadily sliding out of the government's hands and the Islamist militants were
starting to hold territory.
A teacher in Marte who did not want his name revealed said
the terrorists were forcing changes on the village back in January.
"Boko Haram are the ones who told us to close the
school because they don't want to see any western education," he said.
"We are now preparing to re-open the school with the
arrival of the army and we are now free."
When we visited Kirenowa with the army, the entire village
had gathered and applauded on cue as the Nigerian military was lauded - it may
have felt like a publicity stunt but people I spoke to said they were glad the
military operation had dislodged Boko Haram.
But dislodging is not the same as defeating and so far,
there has been little evidence to suggest many fighters have been killed in the
offensive - they have been disorganised and dispersed.
"The next stage is to consolidate and ensure miscreants
and troublemakers in the form of terrorists don't have access to civilian areas
where they can cause problems," military spokesman, Brigadier General
Chris Olukolade, said.
"Do you think there could be any Boko Haram members
amongst the assembled villagers here?" I asked one man sitting on the
ground.
"No, I'm not aware of any," he replied in a
whisper.
•Culled from BBC
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