Tragic postcards from the belly of violence in Nigeria’s Northwest.
THEY ASKED WHICH OF MY BABIES TO SHOOT
One of them said, “Let us release the mother and hold the boy so that he can work for us.”
THEY ASKED ME TO SAY GOODBYE TO MY PARENTS
I lost my chemist shop; I lost my livestock. Before this, I was handling all my responsibilities.
MY WIVES AND DAUGHTER CAN USE GUNS
We prepare our children and family very well in case of any bandit attack.
ONE BANDIT BEAT MY TEETH UNTIL THEY FELL OUT
I spent five months there and we could spend four to five days without eating anything.
I GO EVERYWHERE WITH MY GUNS, EVEN THE TOILET
Any gun, machete, or iron-related weapon cannot do anything to me.
WE’D HAVE JOINED THE BANDITS IF WE KNEW
One day my Fulani colleagues came and met me with a kolanut as an invitation to gang up.
WE SLEPT ON TOP OF TREES TO AVOID BANDITS
Anywhere you go now, people will start accusing you or stigmatising you as a Fulani man.
‘WE HAVE NO RANSOM, WE ALREADY FORGOT HIM’
So, the only option was to keep praying for him and let them just kill him.
THEY THINK ALL FULANI ARE BANDITS
Bandits killed and rustled in our community, but they never tried setting our houses ablaze as Yan Sakai did.
