‘Until no known insurgent is living...’
Nicknamed ‘Bush Colonel’ in the jungles of Marte and Gamboru-Ngala, in recognition of his valour in the battle against the Boko Haram insurgents, this youthful ‘diehard’ soldier bragged that, in body and soul, he is the Boko Haram war, and the war is him;
In spite of his fractured left arm and fingers properly plastered and wrapped with bathroom towel, for various reasons, the 35-year old infantry sergeant vibrates with valor, as though he was never pinched by any by any speck of the enemy weapon in his combats with cattle rustlers and bandits in ZamfaraKatsina-Kaduna States axis of violent crime, and currently the Boko Haram insurgents in the local government areas of Borno State being liberated from the insurgents, where he sustained the fractures.
The towel wrapping physically conceals whatever ghastliness of the wound around the fractures, but also metaphorically his intense revulsion for violent crimes in the region of terror and insurgency, banditry and such others threatening the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the citizens and their country.
The youthful soldier hails from Adamawa State.
Exuding the characteristics of a soldier properly bred and drilled in the combat with the twin crimes ofextreme violence – banditry, on one hand, and terror, insurgency and militancy on the other, and his heart long petrified against their perpetrators, he told his story, with his ‘rocksolid’ resolve to return to the frontline as soon as he is certified healthy enough by the doctors of the 44 Brigade Nigerian Army Referral Hospital, Kaduna, where his case has been referred to.
“I have been fighting in the Military Joint Task Force since 2015; I have been engaged in the combat with the insurgents in many fields in the local government areas liberated from Boko Haram captivity since then.
“One of my most fierce encounters was at Cikingudu in Marteand MafaLocal Government Areas and several other communities liberated in the state, especially in Dikwa and GamboruNgala; but in between, I was taken to Zamfara State to fight with the cattle rustlers and Fulani bandits.
“My first fierce encounter with the insurgents was at Cikingudu in Marte Local Government Area; we clashed with the insurgents for days, but in spite of the insufficiency of provisions we were victorious; I sustained this injury (fractured arm and fingers) at Cikingudu; apart from this, I have not sustained any injury so far in all the other operations I have been engaged in whether in GamboruNgala or any other place for the past two years and five months I have fought in the insurgency war; I have killed a countless number of insurgents; that, of course, is obvious, because killing insurgents is the name of the game we have been trained to play; I still cannot remember how God delivered me from their ambushes a n d scheming in the bushes where they (the insurgents) have mastered much more than us (soldiers).
“The other injury I ever sustained is internal; I sustained it when I went close to a mine planted by the insurgents; some force came down on it and it went off; I was close to it, and it inflicted the internal injury in my ribs, and I still feel it; this on 20th January, 2015, about 8 am; that was when we were going to Kerenuwa in Marte local government area; immediately after I sustained that internal injury, I was rushed 7 Div; I was treated for several days; when I felt okay, I went back to the front line.
“In spite of these fractures you are seeing, I have always felt that no injury can incapacitate me from fighting; fighting the insurgents or bandits is in my spirit; Boko Haram war is me, and I am the Boko Haram war; I mean