May their gentle souls rest in peace. Available records show that the Boko Haram sect predates my governance. As for the events of June 2009, Lmust state that there was collaboration between the Federal and the state Government in trying to contain the situation. For record purposes, on the 11th of June, 2009, there was a report of shooting of seventeen (17) members of the sect by members of the “Operation Flush”( a combined security outfit against crime). They were reported to have attempted to forcefully seize the weapon of a soldier at a check point in Maiduguri metropolis, while on a procession to bury some of their members that died in a motor accident. The injured persons were taken to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for treatment and the authorities of the hospital requested for protection because of the influx of unwanted visitors to the victims, which did not go down well with members of the sect. The following day, late Mohammed Yusuf held an open sermon, which he tagged an “open letter”.
In that sermon, late Yusuf called the names of the former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, late Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua (May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace), the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike, the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General A. Dambazzau, the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Onovo, the former Director-General of the State Security Services (SSS), Mr. Afakriya Gadzama and my humble self and threatened to deal with us and those that refused to share their doctrine. He called these leaders unprintable names and vowed to revenge what happened to their members. The recordings of the sermon were widely circulated in the State and some parts of the country. There were also reports that the group were stockpiling arms and ammunitions, which was discussed at the Security Council and appropriate decisions taken on the issue.
The former Presidents and Commanders-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo and late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua were accordingly briefed on the activities of the Boko Haram sect at various times and the threat posed by the group to national security. On the 23rd of July, 2009, there was a report of arrest of nine (9) members of the sect with bomb making devices and chemicals in Biu town. There was also a report of bomb explosion in the house of one of the members of the sect who later died from the explosion. Unbelievably, on the same 23rd July, 2009, the group had planned and had attacked the residence of a Deputy Commandant of the Mobile Police (Mopol) in the GRA and killed his guards and burnt his house. The group also went to the Police Headquarters in Maiduguri and indiscriminately and gruesomely killed Police Officers and personnel and members of their families. There is no doubt that the almost one week period (Sunday 26th July – Friday 31st July, 2009) during which the Boko Haram sect unleashed terror on Maiduguri and its environs would forever remain the traumatic and darkest part of the history’ of the State. In the five days during which the Boko Haram war climaxed, no fewer than a thousand innocent people, including policemen were brutally killed. An even higher number of their relatives were brutally killed by the sect when they attacked the Police College in Maiduguri, Bauchi, Yobe and Taraba States. Five Police Stations in the city of Maiduguri were set ablaze and several vehicles used by the force were burnt; arms and ammunition carted away; and so on.
Details of the casualties are available with the relevant authorities. Within one week, the atrocities of the sect escalated beyond proportion.
The State Government immediately drew the attention of the then President when the situation was getting out of hand and clearly beyond the capacity of the Police alone. Following that, the President and Commander- In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua accordingly gave the Military directives for action to be taken against the sect. On his way to Brazil on an official engagement, late President Yar’Adua addressed the Press promising that the ” Talibans ” as he called them “would be fished out, and dealt with decisively and promptly”.