Boko Haram members turn cannibals •They wanted to eat me, escaped member recounts •Shekau’s unknown fate tears sect apart

Dozens of suspected Boko Haram militants in Magumeri forest in Borno State have turned to human eaters after being stranded for days without food or water.
Magumeri forest is about 150 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.
Mallam Momodu Bukar, a suspected militant, told journalists on Saturday in Maiduguri that he fled the camp at the forest on Thursday when it became obvious that he was going to be eaten.
“I thank God that I escaped because I would have been slaughtered by now to provide meal for my colleagues at the camp,” Bukar said.
The suspected militant was captured by a youth vigilante group, popularly known as ‘the civilian JTF’ at Baga road motor park, Maiduguri, on Friday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he said the militants had been in the forest since May, when they were dislodged from Marte, Marte Local Government Area of the state by the Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order (ORO) after the declaration of the state of emergency.
“Our group, consisting of about 300 well-armed combatants, headed for Magumeri on the orders of the sect leader, Abubakar Shekau, shortly before the military took over Marte Camp. We have been wandering in the forest. We have exhausted our food and water supply, and so, everybody became hungry,” Bukar said.
He also said that they lost contact with Shekau, due to the closure of GSM services by the Defence Headquarters.
“It all started last Monday when three of the combatants in camp died of acute hunger; and it became obvious that all of us will die, if action was not taken. The leader of the group, Abu Omar, directed that a non-combatant member be slaughtered to provide meal for the rest. The meat provided meal for the combatant for just two days and another person was killed in the same manner on Wednesday.
“So, it became certain that I might be the next person since I am also a non-combatant member,” Bukar said, adding that he escaped after volunteering to help search for drinking water for the group in a nearby village.
“I left the camp on Thursday evening after agreeing to fetch water from the village. After leaving the camp, I started running until I arrived at Magumeri town. So, I slept in the motor park before boarding a vehicle to Maiduguri with the little money on me.” he said, adding that he was apprehended by the youth vigilance group immediately he arrived at the motor park in Maiduguri.
Meanwhile, there are strong indications that the reported death of the sect’s leader, Shekau, may have created multiple splinter groups and revive many sleeper cells of the sect. This is coming as federal counter-terrorism policy struggles against contradictions and lack of coordination among various government organs.
Investigations by Sunday Tribune on recent development on the insurgency revealed that the sect may splinter into various cells with various operating commanders, making a central point for contact with outside world a near impossibility.
Since the yet-to-be-confirmed killing of the sect leader, incidents of sporadic attacks have been on the increase. The military has also announced its full control of the war against the terrorist organisation even as the Presidential Committee of Dialogue and Peace with the militant group played video to prove that that the sect is ready for dialogue.
Checks, however, showed that the Shekau issue, which may have denied the sect a coordinating leader, may have also created more sub-sects fighting the Nigerian state independently.
Such developments are reportedly cited in the recent discovery of more sleeper cells of the group in the North-Western part of the country.
A security source confided in Sunday Tribune that there is expectation that more militant groups may arise from the death of Shekau and that the security establishment are already expecting sporadic attacks in areas where the sect has not had any record of operation.
According to the source, “now that the sect is decapitated, we know its operation will become more sporadic; the central body may not have that direct control over most sub-groups within the sect. But we are up to the task.“
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