Sambisan Juggernauts (Episode One)

Prologue

The Jihadist stood on the dusty and sandy terrain holding an AK-47 rifle firmly, his countenance beaming an outright outburst of bitter irritation and megalomania as he was flanked on both sides by his lieutenants. Dry dusty breeze was blowing across but his glinting eyes were squarely fixed on the camera lens standing few metres away from him.
The jihadist lieutenants, six of them were all masked in balaclavas, donned black outfits and capes with three-quatre length camo trousers and wore flip flop slippers. A large black flag with Arabic inscription stood behind them also. Three of them held AK-47 rifles, one held a machine gun with ammunition belts slung about his neck and chest while the other two had rocket-propelled grenades with launchers strapped on their backs, pointing upwards.
It was a very hot afternoon. The dry coursing breeze created just little relief, a trademark of the Sahel northern region of Nigeria, and in front of the jihadists were two men bound hand and foot with black ropes and constrained to their knees. They were Christians whom they'd captured as mincemeats, determined to exert brutality on to use to showcase their wrath to the world.
Shaking his head, the Jihadist took a step forward with his eyes still fixed on the camera and spoke in Arabic, venting out his rage vehemently against non-jihadists, the Government and the army which he was apparently disillusioned with and which had dealt a debilitating blow on his troops in the past.
"Let this be a warning for you. That the battle is never over yet. And we'll continue to revenge and attack for the numerous blasphemies of your Government, contrary to our ways. And those of you who refuse to be like us will surely end up like these ones." He concluded.
Just then, he stepped back seeming quite fulfilled and emptied. Then he raised his hand and gave the order for the captives in front of them to be executed. The jihadists beside him did immediately, unleashing numerous rounds of their AK-47s on the two captives.
With a swell of crooked joy, they all began to chant, "Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!"
A resistant and merciless black terrorist group the world had scarcely seen; Boko Haram had emerged.
And a brutal guerilla warfare from the heart of the dreaded Sambisa Forest had begun.

(Inspired by Actual Events)

* * *

Episode One

A Sprout of Thorns

"When good men fold their hands to do nothing at the subtle rise of evil, then they're the ones to later pay with their lives and interests to quell the evil they once neglected. Our loved ones have been hit hard, assets razed, and more so, our heroes fallen--my own brothers-in-arms have paid with their lives--and all these due to regrettable negligence we all had. We saw it coming. We had premonitions. We saw terrorism rising. But we did nothing. We thought, "could it ever be so?" But yet it was. And it's costed us our own lives and peace. The shoot we once ignored have grown to become a forest of thorns . . . and now it's thirsty to draw from our blood."


August 21st, 2011

An echo of sirens travelled across the city as a convoy of armoured cars sped on the drenched tarmac with headlights beaming through the rainy Abuja evening. It was 6:45pm and a coalition of teams from the Nigerian Army, the State Security Service and the Anti-Bomb Squad occupied the three armoured cars, enroute to arrest two high-value targets.
A surreptitious workable intel had been received by the State Security Service and strategic investigations had been carried out to trace and take down two top-profile new breed Boko Haram terrorists who'd infiltrated into the Federal Capital Territory few days ago about to carry out a high scale mission of the terrorist organization. And so in conjunction with the Army and Anti-Bomb squad, the SSS were embarked on a very crucial mission. An iota of failure could lead to the insecurity of the Capital and porosity to a massive attack.
Inside the Army vehicle among the convoy was a young soldier. Just twenty five and the leader of his squad, Dafe, a Second-Lieutenant, had been specifically chosen to be part of the special security team to arrest and take out enemy high-value targets (HVTs) whose free existence in the Country could be jeopardy to National and Governmental interests. Respected and quite popular, he was known fully as Peterstone Odafe.
Dafe sighed cutting out the silence that lingered amidst the Army team as they travelled under the billowing rain. Any moment then, they'd reach their destination at Kuje--the Safe House of the two Boko Haram terrorists they'd tracked them to--where they were hiding before their major attack. Dafe respected the intel they'd received with all the stealthy investigations they'd done but he didn't want to trust it entirely. He was certain an unusual surprise contrary to their Intel could come up in this mission--as it had always done in the past ones he'd been involved in.
Since early 2009 in which Dafe finished from the NDA--the Nigerian Defence Academy--he'd always been involved in key operations carried out by the Army especially those by the Battalion he belonged to: the 72nd Paratrooper Battalion headquartered at Makurdi, Benue. His selection for key missions was as a result of his unrivalled excellence, wisdom and valour displayed at previous times. Finishing as the Best paratrooper in his set in 2009, he'd been immediately drafted among the team that was sent to Liberia for Peacekeeping missions. He had also successfully captured a top militant in the Niger Delta in 2010 and also carried out several secret and hostage-rescue missions with his team that year.
Dafe was apparently a fresh breed of smartness, excellence and proactivity and these earned him the popularity he had. Intelligently-spoken, ruddy, fair-skinned and strong with built body physique, Dafe appealed to almost every he met from the onset. And he kept on developing himself for an ever-increasing level of success so it was clear he was also needed for this mission.
After few minutes more, the entire security team got to the Boko Haram safe house/hideout, quickly disembarking from the armoured cars. They immediately cut off all exit points/means of escape for the terrorists and then sent an advance team led by Dafe to breach the entrance of the apartment, take necessary cover and then arrest the two Boko Haram HVTs if they were unarmed and also ransack the apartment to seize weapons and explosives and for any other  additional intel. Within ten minutes, the entire mission was very successful and Dafe with his team came out with the two terrorists--identified as Abu Summaya and Bulama--arrested and handcuffed without any resistance that rainy evening. They were also able to collect some intel materials and seize three artillery shells (which could be used as bombs) which the terrorists had hidden too. Immediately the entire security team left the Kuje apartment with the terrorists and zoomed off back to their stations that rainy evening leaving the rest of the mission for the State Security Service to mop up. It had been a successful arrest and the possibility of an impending attack aborted.
So it seemed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Flight Lt. Mike sat in front of his office desk staring at the blank wall at his side for the thousandth time that day alone--trying to rack his brain as hard as he could. He couldn't understand and wouldn't agree with the intel that the high scale Boko Haram mission planned against the Federal Capital had been aborted just like that. It didn't seem add up again. This was three days after the two terrorists had been arrested.
 Ebuka Michael was an agent in the Defence Intelligence Agency--the DIA--a sister agency to the State Security Service. Though Mike was actually an Air Force personnel, his main job to the Defence Ministry lied on intelligence gathering and analyzing especially for the armed forces. Mike was a studious man in his late twenties, tan skinned with trimmed side burns and was known to be intelligent, always logical and paid much attention to details.
Mike had been among the main guys to receive Intel about an impending Boko Haram attack in the Capital that month and himself with other agents in the DIA had liased with the SSS to trace the two terrorists and provide information for their arrest in a bid to stall the plan of the disillusioned jihadist organisation. But now that things seemed to go as they'd investigated and strategized, he didn't seem to buy it anymore--even though most of his fellow agents did and grew complacent about it all. He was quite certain Boko Haram were quite smarter than a bunch of "Islamic Fulani illiterates" who'd let a major plan of theirs slip just like that. He went over the case' documents, the interrogation recordings and its other intel materials again and again. They seemed to add up quite, but he was sure there was a missing part subtly, somewhere.
The SSS and DIA had actually gotten information about the upcoming Boko Haram attack on the 18th of that same month from the secret Boko Haram sources they had. Those sources had ties and connection with the main jihadist terrorist group and were paid handsomely by the security agents as they served as informants who brought intel to them regularly. But most times, the informants didn't know much either. They only knew the group were planning a big attack to beef up their global popularity. They informed the security agents that "Boko Haram elements were on a mission to attack unspecified targets in Abuja." And it involved "transporting technical items from Kano through an ash-coloured Toyota Camry".
Intelligence agents were able to eventually pinpoint the Boko Haram vehicle as one that belonged to one "Abu Summaya" from Kano. Tracking him through his car and communication lines the intelligence agencies eventually traced him to the safe house in Kuje where he lied in wait with another top terrorist of the group identified as "Bulama" before they struck--both of whom had trained in terrorism in Algeria. And so the security in the Federal Capital was beefed up and a team sent to arrest the terrorists. All actually seemed complete but Fl. Lt. Mike was definitely sure it wasn't yet.
The whole plan of the major attack on Abuja had actually been initiated by Abubakar Shekau, the group's new leader--after Mohammed Yusuf who had been killed by security operatives in 2009 during the group's first major uprising. (Mohammed Yussuf had actually began the group on a much lower style since 2002 and Government agencies were warned about the threat the Islamic group posed but the Governemnt turned deaf ears to the warnings until the group's activities escalated in 2009).

Now, in conjunction with another top leader, Mamman Nur, Abubakar Shekau came up with plans for a major attack mission on a foreign target on Nigeria's soil in order to beef up global popularity and especially to consolidate with top terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. Mamman Nur was to mastermind the whole operation and he did in conjunction with Abu Summaya and Bulama right from Kano. The trio had smuggled bombs, explosives and artillery shells from Algeria where most of them trained in with the terrorist group AQIM. By brilliantly hiding the ammunitions in containers carrying goods, they'd successfully transported them to their base in Kano. The artillery shells for the operation, about five, were stored for over three months before Mamman Nur ordered the other duo to transport them to Abuja for the major onslaught where they'd use them as car bombs or VBIEDs.
Mamman Nur was smart though. Knowing security agents might eventually catch up with Abu Summaya and abort the group's mission, he split the shells to two groups and created a backup with a junior terrorist in the group, Abul Barra, who was to be the main bomb detonator--in this case as a suicide bomber. Abul Barra successfully stole a car right from Kano--a Honda vehicle--and transported the remaining two of the five shells by himself to Abuja for the mission, while the first group moved with three. When information reached Nur that Abu Summaya had been arrested by security operatives in Abuja and the mission almost compromised, he concluded on the foreign target to attack and gave the order for Abul Barra who'd been hiding in another apartment to go ahead with his side of the mission.
Mike rechecked the communication line of Abu Summaya who'd been arrested and found a suspicious place where he informed someone that "five kegs have been successfully secured". Shrewdly taking "kegs" to mean the explosives, Mike began to suspect that the Boko Haram terrorists could still have another group in Abuja with the remaining two shells--since they'd recovered just three from Abu Summaya. Right away, Mike informed the other intelligence teams in the SSS to be aware and that there could still be a possibility of Boko Haram carrying out their major attack which most thought had been aborted--with the possibility of two shells still remaining.

Unfortunately, little attention was paid to Mike's suspicion or theory and was overruled. The rivalry tensions between the DIA and the SSS didn't help any issue either. And so Mike painfully dropped the case.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On Friday, August 26th, 2011, by 11:00am, a Honda vehicle broke into the UN headquarters building in Abuja, breaking through two security barriers and speeding right into the building's reception area. Immediately, the car exploded causing a devastating and regrettable bomb blast which claimed the lives of twenty one people, with over eighty sustaining injuries.
The major attack which the agencies had thought they'd foiled was accomplished just as Mike and Dafe had feared. And a global recognition was accorded to the new breed Boko Haram terrorist group. The firsts of their major attacks had been struck successfully.

* * *

Three years later
April 12th, 2014.

Dafe picked up his cell phone and answered the incoming call. On the other end of the line was Pius Andy, one of his best friends in the army too who'd been deployed under the new division already fighting the Boko Haram war at Borno.
"Oga Dafe!" Andy hailed happily. "Nice hearing from you." Around him were his fellow squad mates in the cabin too on their beds working out, eating chow or catching a nap. They'd just returned from patrol an hour ago.
"Andy, I hail o! How your side now?" Dafe replied gladdened too.
"Mehn, these Boko guys are our palaver o. The battle heat here is fierce. We need strong arms like yours frankly, Dafe. I'm just concerned some of my family members are still here. Dinah, my younger sister is in town writing her SSCE, would you believe? It's too risky."
Dafe sighed. "Wow! It's gon' be well, Andy. I'm hoping we'll be deployed there too once our special training is over. Hang in for us, man."
"That would be divine, Dafe."
Andy, a Lieutenant, was a close friend to Dafe. And they'd finished from the NDA together along with Samuel Fola. Although the three had been best friends then, they were eventually put in different units and so became seperated. Dafe was in the 72nd Paratrooper Battalion, Andy the 25th Task Force Brigade under the new 7th division at Borno while Fola eventually joined the Navy and in 2012 was put in the Special Boat Service--the Nigerian Navy's Special Force arm. But the trio were very good--skillful, intelligent and valiant in their respective units.
That same year 2014, Nigeria's Armed Forces Special Force was also created as terrorism escalated and Dafe was eventually selected to be part of the team with their special training in Russia and also with countries as Israel, US, the UK and Pakistan. Trained in assymetrical, covert and advanced warfare, CT/COIN, the Armed Forces Special Force (AFSF) was modelled after the famous US Delta Force, consisting of a combination of elite troops from the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Andy however remained a regular combatant stationed at a Damboa base not far from Chibok town, Borno. He was among the firsts to stand at the front lines to fight the insurgency there while the threat, attack and turmoil of Boko Haram increased. By April 2014, the jihadist group had so grown and had captured a number of towns and villages in Borno with numerous massacres on the civilian population. With an increasing terror on the entire North Eastern part of Nigeria, their biggest attacks were still yet to come.

* * *

Two days later.
It was nearly midnight and the clock was reading 11:35pm in Chibok town. Dinah, a student in the Government Girls College, Chibok was on her bed in her dormitory revising her Physics textbook for the upcoming SSC Examination that week with her reading lamp shinning in the darkness of the hot school night. Beautiful Dinah was the younger sister of Pius Andy and one of the most brilliant female students in her school with bright ambitions to study Quantum Physics at Oxford after her secondary education through a robust scholarship she'd won.
Most of her dorm mates had slept, tired from the hectic day they'd had. The day had actually been quite strange. For some minutes before then, Dinah had been hearing sounds of gunshots around and also fire raging. Apparently it was the Boko Haram guys who were probably attacking the poor inhabitants of Chibok, Dinah knew. But she took her mind off that quite determined to further study that night before sleeping. Her secondary school was safe anyways and there were definitely people around to protect them, she felt.

Just then, from nowhere, Dinah heard a loud bang that rattled her nerves. "God! What's that?!" She jumped up instantly pervaded with fear. Immediately, her other dorm mates began waking too reasoning what exactly had happened. Soon, some men in army fatigues, about seven of them, rushed into their dormitory and began waking the girls up.
"Wake up, everyone. Leave this place and get outside!" One of them screamed. They began to immediately demand all the students leave their dormitories and go into their trucks that had been parked not far from it. "Boko Haram is attacking this town and we want to take you all to a safe place," the man continued. Dinah felt relief hearing that--she knew the terrorists had really been attacking the area--but an unexplainable uneasiness followed immediately. She couldn't tell why. Were they really soldiers? They seemed so. Anyways, it felt better to follow them immediately--what if the real Boko Haram actually came to attack them later on? And besides their teachers had warned them never to leave their dormitories during an attack  by themselves except if the teachers or some other authorities came to pick them.
And so majority of the girls, 16-18 years, in the school in their dormitories that night began trooping out--still in their nightgowns. Dinah went too with some of her friends. Some of them immediately began jumping into the open-bed trucks they saw the dozens of "military men"--about a hundred of them--bring. Within an hour all of the trucks had been filled with the female students--literally more than 250--and began heading out of the school. Strangely, there seemed to not be any of their teachers or staff--which they knew--around. The remaining female students who hadn't gotten into the trucks began trekking to meet up with other incoming trucks coming for them. Hours later, many of the girls began discovering that the "soldier men" were in fact disguised Boko Haram terrorists seeing the way they acted and hearing what they were saying. A terrible fear began melting their hearts each.

By the time Dinah too had entered a truck already enroute to wherever they were being taken to, she knew it was already late for most of the female students and herself. Some of the girls were able to jump down in fear from the trucks and escape that night. Most of them couldn't. They could only frantically pray to be delivered or rescued one way or the other--especially by the true Nigerian soldiers. Realising how terrifying their case was, Dinah asked the girls with her to begin throwing their scarfs off on the road at different locations. They could be the tracers for the Nigerian soldiers to eventually locate where they were being taken to. By this time, most were already in tears, frightened and grieving heavily. The dark solitary night didn't help too.
Early the next morning, all the trucks had reached the forest camp they were taking the girls to. It was deep into the dreaded Sambisa Forest, off the express routes, and the terrorists weren't nice to them at all. Some even threatened to rape them if they acted obstinate. Their worst dread. Dinah was literally perplexed and discombobulated. She could feel the fear pounding in heart, the horror banging in her head and tears coursing down her cheeks. How could it be? What was in store for her? How would she survive? Despite the pounding fear in her heart all through that morning, she resolved in her mind to escape from the terrorists.
Soon the girls were being distributed into different groups and asked to wait under different trees. Dinah saw that as her opportunity. Immediately, she sneaked from where the crowd was and began to track her way out of the forest using a narrow footpath and footprints. Checking at the back constantly with fear to make sure she wasn't being followed, she ran untiringly determined to get out to the main express route where she could get help from. Some of the terrorist guards were patrolling that path too so she had to also hide in the bush a couple of times. By now the tension was really squeezing her heart--she was praying they wouldn't see her.
After about an hour of trekking and running and hiding, Dinah saw that the footpath eventually led to a wider area. Getting really exhausted and panting but with an iota of joy that she'd made it, Dinah eventually came out to the express route side. She could see the road from where she was, lit by the light of dawn. She knew she had made it. And now was her chance to get help and save her school mates from their abductors. She was glad.
Unfortunately, just at that spot, two Boko Haram guards were standing too--right in front of her--dressed in black, waiting for her, ready to hinder her escape. Certainly about to return her back to her captivity too.
Dinah's heart melted with extreme fright and she froze completely as she saw them. What else could she do now? How could she still escape?

* * *

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” – Albert Einstein

Episode Two Coming up on Wednesday.
Would Dinah escape her captors? What would the terrorists do to the girls? And would the army come to rescue them? Stay tuned and don't miss it!