Former Boko Haram Commander Says Shekau Is Not Sick

Rawana Goni ( Photo File)

Former Boko Haram Commander Undergoing Rehabilitation In Borno, Says Leader Of The Group, Shekau Is Not Sick, Says He Can Make 137-Member Gang To Surrender.

Former Boko Haram Commander, Rawana Goni (32), has asked the military to allow him call the group leader, Abubakar Shekau, and about 137 others, to make them surrender,

Goni who is undergoing rehabilitation at a military detention camp in Maiduguri, Borno also made it clear that Shekau is not sick, as against media’s report during the weekend.

As he spoke to the News agency of Nigeria, Goni  who disclosed that  he had held several positions in 10 different cells in Sambisa Forest, said that he used to communicate regularly with Shekau. He said, Shekau  broke his leg five years ago while riding a horse but he has since recovered.

“Anyone saying Shekau is sick is deceiving himself. We used to communicate through radiophone but not anymore,” he added.

The indigene of Bama in Borno State Further told the news men that he had to join the group  while it was raiding some camps in Cameroon.

In his words,

I rescued people sentenced to death and minimised punishment of those who committed crimes. I am one of the most influential persons in the group and they always listened to my opinion.

“I joined Boko Haram because of the condition I found myself in the last five years. When the insurgents invaded Bama, I ran with my family to Cameroon thinking I was in a safe place. But on reaching Cameroon, I was shocked to realise that I brought myself into another Boko Haram camp. By that time, I knew I would not survive without joining the group.

“Days after my induction, we opened a permanent camp at the Cameroonian border and named the forest “Aluska”. It was in that camp that I learnt all types of trainings, including handling weapons.

“After the training, we embarked on our first mission – we invaded a military formation in Cameroon, dislodged the soldiers and took many weapons from their armoury. We couldn’t take any vehicle because the area was surrounded by river.

“We took the recovered weapons to our leader – Abubakar Shekau – and briefed him on our success. He was happy that five of us could dislodge a military formation. After congratulating us, he appointed me to lead the group and returned our weapons to us.

“Few days later, I recruited many fighters, because as a commander, you are expected to have no fewer than 250 fighting troops. With the new fighting force, we invaded Waza, Damaga and Banki. We also invaded Bama.

“I was touched to see my people being tortured and killed, while women and children were living in excruciating hardship. So I decided to pass a message to my fellow insurgents from Bama and we formed a group, comprising about 137 persons, to help our people in prison escape.

“I was able to rescue about 300 hostages at the prison facility in Bama. I usually lied to the guards at the prison that I was going to kill the inmates. But I would take them to a safe place in Konduga and ask them to run to a safer destination.

“Many of the prisoners were exposed to hard labour while some were used as guinea pigs at shooting range.”

The ex-insurgent, who believes the war was coming to an end, urged the military to let him tell Shekau and other insurgents that he is still alive.

He said: “My 137 boys are on standby to hear I am still alive and I can assure you they will run out of Sambisa Forest and surrender to the military. I once told them to surrender and they said we shall all get killed. But I told them that I will surrender and they said if nothing happened to me, they will all come out.”

Naija News recalls that earlier stories suggested Shekau, Boko Haram leader is sick.