The Woman Who Talks with Boko Haram

Transcription

1 The Woman Who Talks with Boko Haram By Sue Diaz, Peace Writer Edited by Emiko Noma 2016 Women Peace Makers Program

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS A NOTE TO THE READER... 4 ABOUT THE WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM... 4 BIOGRAPHY OF A WOMAN PEACEMAKER... 5 HAMSATU ALLAMIN... 5 CONFLICT HISTORY NIGERIA... 7 Direct and Indirect Rule in Colonial Nigeria... 7 Religious Violence... 8 The Maitasine Riots Precursor to Boko Haram... 9 The Boko Haram Violence... 9 INTEGRATED TIMELINE NARRATIVE STORIES OF THE LIFE OF HAMSATU ALLAMIN OF NIGERIA Prologue Becoming Hamsatu Allamin Early Lesson To Begin Again Early Outreach and Advocacy Konduga Days The Power of Persistence The Insurgents Next Door The Gathering Storm The Roots of Jihad Dealing with Conflict Hauled in for Questioning Bearing Witness The Diaries The Arrest Face to Face with Boko Haram Auntie Boko Haram Rumors and Risks The Would-Be Rescue WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 2 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

3 Hamsatu Looks Ahead A CONVERSATION WITH HAMSATU ALLAMIN BIOGRAPHY OF A PEACE WRITER JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE ENDNOTES WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 3 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

4 A NOTE TO THE READER In the following pages, you will find narrative stories about a Woman PeaceMaker, along with additional information to provide a deep understanding of a contemporary conflict and one person s journey within it. These complementary components include a brief biography of the peacemaker, a historical summary of the conflict, a timeline integrating political developments in the country with personal history of the peacemaker, a question-and-answer transcript of select interviews, and a table of best practices in peacebuilding as demonstrated and reflected on by the peacemaker during her time at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. The document is not intended necessarily to be read straight through, from beginning to end. Instead, you can use the historical summary or timeline as mere references or guides as you read the narrative stories. You can move straight to the table of best practices if you are interested in peacebuilding methods and techniques, or go to the question-and-answer transcript if you want to read commentary in the peacemaker s own words. The goal of this format is to reach audiences through multiple channels, providing access to the peacemaker s work, vision, lives and impact in their communities. ABOUT THE WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice s (IPJ) Women PeaceMakers Program annually hosts four women from around the world who have been involved in human rights and peacemaking efforts in their countries. Women on the frontline of efforts to end violence and secure a just peace seldom record their experiences, activities and insights as generally there is no time or, perhaps, they do not have formal education that would help them record their stories. The Women PeaceMakers Program is a selective program for leaders who want to document, share and build upon their unique peacemaking stories. Women PeaceMakers are paired with a Peace Writer to document in written form their story of living in conflict and building peace in their communities and nations. While in residence at the institute, Women PeaceMakers give presentations on their work and the situation in their home countries to the university and San Diego communities. The IPJ believes that women s stories go beyond headlines to capture the nuance of complex situations and expose the realities of gender-based violence, thus providing an understanding of conflict and an avenue to its transformation. The narrative stories of Women PeaceMakers not only provide this understanding, but also show the myriad ways women construct peace in the midst of and after violence and war. For the realization of peace with justice, the voices of women those severely affected by WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 4 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

5 violent conflict and struggling courageously and creatively to build community from the devastation must be recorded, disseminated and spotlighted. BIOGRAPHY OF A WOMAN PEACEMAKER HAMSATU ALLAMIN Hamsatu is a trusted negotiator and peacemaker between militants and security forces in her country s conflict-ridden and impoverished North East region. She serves as the regional manager of the North East section of the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) and a national executive member of the Federation of Muslim Women s Associations in Nigeria. Allamin is an educator by profession. After getting her education at the University of Maiduguri, she relocated to a small village where her husband had inherited his father s position as a traditional leader. Allamin began teaching at a community college, and also started organizing forums for grassroots women to gather and discuss issues arising within the community. With the rise of the militant group Jama atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda awati wal Jihad (JAS), commonly known as Boko Haram, Allamin was compelled to become a human rights defender and women s activist. She witnessed the violence escalating with the counterproductive strategies that the government and security forces were employing. It was then that I took it upon myself to visit [the areas where JAS was recruiting] and know who these boys are, identify with the parents, sympathize with them, with the conviction that someone has to engage with them to stop the violence, she has stated. Many of the communities, and the young men in particular, were skeptical of Allamin because she was a woman. But they eventually began opening up because she was one of the only people listening to their needs and grievances. Allamin s deftness in listening, analyzing, and initiating new strategies led her to call on the Interfaith Mediation Center in Kaduna to intervene in what was happening in her region, which eventually led to the Presidential Committee for Dialogue bringing national and international attention to the situation. Allamin also created the Network of Civil Society Organizations for Peace (NSRP), in the states where JAS originated, Borno and Yobe. After the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014, the network was the first to hold a press conference in Maiduguri six days later effectively launching the Bring Back Our Girls campaign. Through the NSRP, Allamin is implementing a project on countering violent extremism, focused on restoring social norms, changing the narrative of apathy toward the West, and developing a module for teaching peace and setting up peace clubs in Islamiya School in the state of Borno. Allamin is also the country representative of the Network of WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 5 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

6 Women Activists Against Violent Extremism, an affiliate of the International Civil Society Action Network. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 6 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

7 CONFLICT HISTORY NIGERIA Nigeria is in many ways a divided country, beginning with the primarily Christian south and the largely Muslim north. This division arose in the 19 th century with British colonial rule, but continues to have a profound impact on the country today, particularly its northeastern region. The violence there has its roots in this divide. Before British colonial rule was established, what constitutes present Nigeria was comprised of many ancient kingdoms and empires both in the south and the north. The Kanem-Borno Empire in the north was established in the 9 th century and existed to the end of 19 th century. Its area of influence spanned a region which includes the present countries of Niger, Cameroun, Chad, and the whole of Northern Nigeria. Kanem-Borno s contact with Arab/Islamic influences dates back to the 5 th century through Arab traders trading slaves and horses for fire arms, facilitated by the empire s position near important trans-saharan trade routes. Over time, Kanam-Borno became the largest, most influential empire and the Gateway of Islam to West Africa. By the 9 th century, the rulers greatly expanded the influence of Islam by making it the religion of the state. Kanem-Borno became the first and greatest center of Arabic and Islamic education in the region. (Even today lslamic students and scholars across the region consider a period in Borno as a necessary part of their education.) From the 1850s Britain established its presence on the coastal area of Lagos (Southwestern Nigeria). Britain s imperialist ambitions also brought the Christian missionaries who introduced Christianity and Western education to that area. The Sokoto Caliphate, which had taken root in the North, was abolished when the British defeated it in The modern state originated with the merging in 1914 of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate. Direct and Indirect Rule in Colonial Nigeria The Southern Protectorate was governed by Direct Rule, a system in which the central authority (British) has power over the colony, while the Northern Protectorate was governed by Indirect Rule, a system in which native leaders continued to rule their traditional lands so long as they collected taxes and performed other duties ensuring British prosperity. The Indirect Rule, as developed in Northern Nigeria, was a practical means of administering a huge territory, with only limited manpower and cost. The British also provided Western education for some of Nigeria's elite. However, in the main, Britain limited schooling as much as feasible because it did not see an obligation towards it at the risk of jeopardizing its hegemony in the North 1 WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 7 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

8 The Christian missionaries confined themselves to mostly to the southern region and the hilly/mountainous areas of the North, areas which neither the early Borno Kingdom or the later Sokoto Caliphate had reached to subdue and convert to Islam (because of inaccessibility due to difficult terrains). The weather and climate conditions of these hilly areas also favored the Europeans, compared to the harsh, dry winds and hot sun of most of the vast desert prone areas of the North. Several important developments that have continued to affect Nigeria's government and politics in the postcolonial period marked the period of colonial rule. First, British colonial rule nurtured north-south separation, which has remained the classic cleavage in the country. In particular, after Lord Frederick Lugard, the High Commissioner of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1899 to 1906, made a pact with northern emirs to protect Islamic civilization, the North was shut off from much of the Westernizing influences to which the South was exposed. This protection gave the southern peoples a head start, especially in Western education. During the struggle for independence, northern leaders were afflicted by a constant fear of southern domination. Many of the northern responses to national politics to this day can be attributed to this fear. Among the people in dominant Muslim territories, who were left to their traditional Quranic education, the perception grew that Western education introduced in mostly the pagan hilly areas was not meant for them, but rather for unbelievers. After independence when the few Northern elite started to coerce people to send their wards to school, they resisted on the perception that they cannot be forced to accept the knowledge of disbelief. Although colonizing Northern Nigeria was by conquest, the Sokoto Caliphate s leaders had been wise to recognize that it was in their interests to offer little resistance during the campaigns of pacification and place their lands under the protection of the British. 2 Such a response led the British to see the highly-ordered and hierarchical societies of the Islamic North as more cultured and well-governed than the stateless societies of southern and eastern Nigeria. But paradoxically, the indirect rule model left areas like Northern Nigeria economically and educationally backward in comparison with the directly-ruled areas of Nigeria. Religious Violence During the pre-colonial era, religion was integral to the state in the northern kingdoms, empires and caliphate, in that the religious leader was also a political leader, as provided by Sharia law. During the colonial period both Islam and Christianity spread, but Christianity was privileged and produced a new elite that controlled both the economy and the bureaucracy. Then the uneducated Muslim North began to see the products of disbelief coming to positions of supremacy. The struggle for political power WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 8 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

9 then came to entail the manipulation of symbols and beliefs of both religions as stepping stones to power and political legitimacy by desperate politicians on both sides. From the 1980s there was an upsurge of religious violence, in that Islam and Christianity were sometimes depicted as monolithic entities that confront each other in pitched battles, especially with the formal declaration of the Sharia, (Islamic legal code), providing a trigger for the violence. Riots based on religious affiliation and policies occurred. The word Sharia, meaning "the path," refers to a set of principles that govern the moral and religious lives of Muslims. Most of it deals with how to practice Islam. Sharia law covers things like marriage, divorce, inheritance and punishments for criminal offenses. Interpretation of Sharia is done through Islamic scholarship. The Maitasine Riots Precursor to Boko Haram The riots that started in 1980 Kano the biggest commercial hub of Northern Nigeria spread to many major cities of the North. Leading the movement, Muhammad Marwa Maitatsine preached against the Nigerian state and Western influence, including modern technology. Many analysts see Boko Haram as an extension of the movement Maitasine started. A violent riot by his followers in Kano was responded to by the Nigeria military, resulting in the death of Marwa, several of his followers, some members of the government security forces, innocent civilians, and the destruction of public and private properties. Despite Mohammed Marwa's death, riots continued to spread. In October, 1982 they erupted in Bulumkuttu Ward, an outskirt settlement in Maiduguri, Borno State, and in Kaduna. In early 1984 more violent uprisings occurred, leaving thousands dead or homeless, and destroying churches, mosques, police stations, schools, and government buildings. The violence in the city of Maiduguri was the worst. Around the same period, the then Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, enrolled Nigeria into the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), a move of Islamizing the country, which aggravated religious tensions in the country, particularly among the Christian community. The Boko Haram Violence In 2002, the Da awah group also called the Nigerian Taliban under the leadership of a young man named Muhammad Ali, migrated from Maiduguri to Kanamma, a border village in Yobe State, to preach the Quran. Disillusioned by the corruption and patrimonial system prevalent in Northeastern Nigeria, he had dropped out of the University of Maiduguri and established with other disaffected youth a commune in Yobe dedicated to following strict Sharia law. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 9 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

10 A clash with local police over a misunderstanding concerning fishing rights in the community pond led to the arrest of several of their members. The group mobilized, attacked the police station, freed their comrades, and carted off the firearms. Muhammad Ali and several members lost their lives in a clash with authorities. Shortly after that, the survivors who had escaped regrouped and attacked police formations in Bama and Gwoza in Borno State, but were subdued by security forces. A charismatic cleric, Muhammad Yusuf, became the new leader of the Da awah group, which was renamed Jamā'at Ahl as-sunnah lid-da'wah wa'l-jihād or "Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad." In 2009 Muhammad Yusuf brought the group back to Maiduguri, where it became known as Boko Haram, a phrase meaning Western Education is forbidden. Some of the bloodiest violence associated with Boko Haram started between 24 th and 28 th of July, 2009, almost simultaneously in six northern states: Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Kano, and Katina. After an explosion some few kilometers from Markas (residence and headquarters of the sect, behind railway quarters in Maiduguri), armed members of the group stormed, attacked and burned police stations, churches, mosques, prisons, and government buildings. Hundreds of lives were lost, in addition to property damage to schools and government buildings, including the offices of the Education Board in Maiduguri. The press reported more than 500 members of the group were killed, but one of the governors in the Northeast, now a senator, confirmed in the senate that over 5000 people lost their lives. The sect members held government security forces in Maiduguri for ransom for three days, while their leader, Muhammad Yusuf, tried to escape, but was arrested by soldiers and handed over to the police, who later in the evening announced his death to the public. Afterwards, the group went underground and re-emerged in mid-2010 in Maiduguri under Abubakar Shekau. It proceeded to launch targeted killing of security operatives, as well as Islamic scholars who openly opposed their ideology, and community leaders who identified them to security agents and who allegedly took their properties when they went into hiding. At the beginning of 2012, the government called a state of emergency, yet militant attacks increased, as did security force abuses. Since 2013 more than 2 million people have been displaced by the conflict, and at least 250,000 have fled to neighboring countries. Boko Haram has carried out countless abductions, shocking the world with the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April of Corruption has hampered efforts to broker a peace and put an end to the violence. To date, Boko Haram continues to operate from its current base in the Sambisa Forest. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 10 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

11 INTEGRATED TIMELINE Political Developments in Nigeria and Personal History of Hamsatu Allamin 9 th 15 th Centuries Kanem- Borno Empire 15 TH 19 TH Centuries Borno Empire 16-18th Centuries Millions of Nigerians are forcibly sent to the Americas Islamic state - Sokoto Caliphate - is founded in the north. 1850s British establish presence around Lagos Britain consolidates its hold over what it calls the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, governs by "indirect rule" through local leaders. Part of former German colony Kamerun is added to Nigeria (the current Adamawa state and Bama in Borno) under League of Nations mandate Hamsatu is born in Nguru, Yobe State Hamsatu s parents relocated to home base in Maiduguri WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 11 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

12 Independence, with Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leading a coalition government Controversial census fuels regional and ethnic tensions. Hamsatu is enrolled in Gamboru Primary School. First military coup in Nigeria. Hamsatu enrolls in Community Secondary School in Maiduguri and continues to Yerwa Government Secondary School. Hamsatu proceeds to Northeast College of Arts and Sciences, Maiduguri. August -Hamsatu marries. September - Hamsatu enrolls into University of Maiduguri. Hamsatu has her first baby a girl, Falmata (Tukul). Hamsatu has her second baby a boy, Allamin (Babu). Second Republic begins with Alhaji Shehu Shagari of National Party of Nigeria (NPN) as President and Muhammad Goni of Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) as first civilian Governor of Borno State. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 12 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

13 Hamsatu graduates with a B.A. in English and enrolls in the compulsory National Youth Service Corps program Hamsatu completes service, has 3 rd baby a boy, Mustapha (Kaka Lawan), and takes up appointment with Borno State Government as a teacher. Hamsatu has fourth baby a boy, Muhammad Buhari (Mamman). Hamsatu s husband become tribal chief in Konduga (28kms from Maiduguri). Family relocates there. Hamsatu begins teaching at the government secondary school. Hamsatu enrolls at the University of Maidguri in a Masters degree program Series of military coups, counter coups, election annulment, formation of an interim government with allegations and counter-allegations of corruption, poor governance etc. The era marks the beginning of a downward spiral in Nigeria Hamsatu earns M.A. degree in history. With her ongoing activism and advocacy in Konduga, Hamsatu continues to re-define the role of a chief s wife. Hamsatu has her fifth son, Lawan Kawu (Gargam). Hamsatu appointed principal of a Model Girls Science School, Konduga. Hamsatu has her sixth son, Ahmad (Baa Lawan). WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 13 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

14 Hamsatu has her seventh son, Abubakar (Habu). October - Hamsatu has her eighth and last child, a daughter, Hadiza (Yakaka). December Hamsatu appointed Executive Secretary, Borno State Commission for Women, and then Director General, Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs. Dec Feb Hamsatu appointed Director of School Service and promoted to Board Secretary, Borno State Primary Education Board D awah group (AKA the Nigerian Taliban) emerges under leadership of Muhammad Ali. Nigeria s Fourth Republic elections bring to power Olusegun Obasanjo (Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as president and Mala Kachalla of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) as governor. Adoption of Islamic Sharia Law by several northern states (including Borno) in the face of opposition from Christians. Tension over the issue results in hundreds of deaths during clashes between Christians and Muslims. As a Director of School Service, Borno State Primary Education Board, Hamsatu initiates pension for primary school teachers. November Police fire at protesting workers in Maiduguri. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 14 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

15 Da awah/nigerian Taliban group migrate to Yobe. In a clash with police Ali and several members lose their lives. Some 100 people are killed in Lagos in clashes between Northerners, mainly Muslims, and Yorubas from predominantly-christian southwest. The governor of Borno State travels down to Lagos and appeals for understanding and peace. Earns the title Captain of Peace Survivors of Nigerian Taliban regroup back in Borno, attack Bama and Gwoza police formations. Are subdued by government forces. Muhammad Yusuf emerges as leader of Da awah. Group re-named Jamā'at Ahl as-sunnah lid-da'wah wa'l-jihād. Local people call them Yusufiyyas. They later become known as Boko Haram. First civilian-led Democratic election with Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP reelected amidst allegations of election rigging and corruption, while Ali Modu Sheriff of All People's Party (APP) is elected governor in Borno State. Hamsatu suffers political victimization, removed as Secretary, demoted to the rank of a Director and posted to the Scholarships Board. Hamsatu takes post as Secretary to Secondary School Teaching Board. Two former health ministers and a daughter of President Olusegun Obasanjo are among 12 top health officials charged with embezzling around 470m naira (4m dollars) of public health funds January Hamsatu and her husband divorce. February Muhammed Yusuf s preaching draws large crowds in the Maiduguri area, Hamsatu s son among them. April Hamsatu marries second husband. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 15 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

16 June First Boko Haram revolt against the state. Group holds government forces for ransom for three days. Yusuf and several hundreds of his followers are killed. Group goes into hiding. Hundreds die in Northeastern Nigeria after the Boko Haram launches a campaign of violence in a bid to have Sharia law imposed on the entire country. Security forces storm Boko Haram's stronghold and kill the movement's leader. Hamsatu takes leave from Teaching Service Board and volunteers with the Federation of Muslim Women in Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) in response to political victimization President UmaruYar'Adua dies after a long illness. Vice-president Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar'Adua's stead, succeeds him Boko Haram remerges in Maiduguri under Abubakar Shekau. Targeted killings of security forces begin. Hamsatu arrested after her presentation on the topic of Religion, Violence, and Extremism. Christmas Eve bomb attacks near Jos (central region) kill at least 80 people. Attacks claimed by Boko Haram spark clashes between Christians and Muslims. Some 200 killed in reprisal attacks. Federal government sets up a Joint Task Force (JTF) of security forces with headquarters in Maiduguri, in response to the escalation of violence in the Northeast. Hamsatu starts collaboration with British Council in Nigeria to develop the bid document for Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP). Boko Haram makes Nagarannam in Maiduguri their headquarters and starts abducting girls. March Goodluck Jonathan wins presidential elections amidst controversies of election rigging. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 16 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

17 2012 July President Jonathan says he will ask parliament to amend the constitution so that presidents will serve a single, longer term in office. Government says it wants to start negotiating with the Boko Haram as a result of a series of recent attacks across northern Nigeria. Some say the violence was staged to enable the president extend his tenure as there were likelihood that he would not win the election. Joint Task Force (JTF) arrests wives and family members of Boko Haram commanders across the region June - Boko Haram launches its first suicide bomb attack on police headquarters in Abuja. August Suicide bomb attack on UN headquarters in Abuja kills 23 people, Boko Haram claims responsibility. November At least 63 people are killed in bomb and gun attacks in Damaturu, Yobe state. December Nearly 70 people are killed in days of fighting between security forces and Boko Haram in Yobe and Borno States. Fleeing Damaturu after the outbreak of that clash, Hamsatu and hundreds of others are forced to spend the night in their vehicles. Hamsatu s updates from the road to her colleagues at NSRP evolve into ongoing eyewitness accounts diaries of the violence and its aftermath in Borno State and Maiduguri. February Hamsatu s son is arrested, falsely accused of being a member of Boko Haram, and tortured by soldiers. April Chadian President Idriss Deby calls on countries neighboring Northern Nigeria to set up a joint military force to tackle Boko Haram militants as they continue their attacks. He warns of the danger of the group destabilizing the June Boko Haram claims responsibility for attacks on two churches in Jos city and Borno State, in which one person died and dozens of others were injured. An angry crowd kills six Muslims in Jos in retaliation. August The army kills 20 Boko Haram fighters in a shootout in Maiduguri. The government says it has started informal talks through "backroom channels" with WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 17 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

18 Boko Haram to try to end attacks. Boko Haram ruled out peace talks shortly beforehand. October Boko Haram bombs army bases in Maiduguri. The army says it killed 24 Boko Haram fighters in subsequent clashes. November Hamsatu become Regional Coordinator/Consultant and Conflict Analyst, NSRP, British Council/DFID Peace building program. In her own efforts for peace, Hamsatu partners with Barrister Aisha Wakil AKA Mama Boko Haram in an ongoing outreach to key commanders in Boko Haram to end the violence. December At least 20 Christians are reported killed in attacks by suspected Boko Haram in Yobe and Borno states over the Christmas/New Year period. May Boko Haram makes a heavily-armed incursion into Bama (second largest city in Borno),while kidnapping of prominent people for ransom becomes widespread. Secondary schools in Yobe state are closed after Boko Haram slaughters 22 students and abducts an unspecified number of female students. September Boko Haram attacks College of Agriculture in Yobe state and kills 50 male students. USA declares Boko Haram a terrorist group. May Government declares state of emergency in three northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa and sends in troops to combat Boko Haram. September Boko Haram murders more than 150 people in roadside attacks in Benishek, Borno State. Separately, security forces fight Boko Haram armed insurgents in the capital Abuja. April Boko Haram kidnaps more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok. Hamsatu and her women colleagues in Maiduguri organize a press conference to bring attention to the abduction of the Chibok girls and press the government to act. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 18 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

19 2015 May With Australian-negotiator Stephen Davis, Hamsatu and a small group travel into the bush on a covert state-sponsored mission to rescue the Chibok girls. July Nigeria and neighbors agree to form a joint military force to combat the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram. August Boko Haram proclaims a caliphate - an Islamic state with Headquarters in Gwoza - a declaration dismissed by the government. October Nigeria's military says it has agreed a ceasefire with Boko Haram, and that the schoolgirls the group abducted will be released. The group denies it has agreed a ceasefire and says the girls have been married off. President Goodluck Jonathan says he will seek a second term in office in elections, but these are postponed from February 2015 because of the Boko Haram insurgency. November Boko Haram launches a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria, capturing several towns near Lake Chad and running raids into neighboring Chad and Cameroon in early Hundreds of people in the northeast are killed and thousands more displaced. February-March Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger form military coalition against Boko Haram, claim successes in pushing it back in all these countries. Nigerian army captures Gwoza, which it believes is Boko Haram's main stronghold, in late March, leaving the armed group with only two towns under its control. March Muhammadu Buhari wins the presidential election, becoming the first opposition candidate to so in Nigeria's history. April Hamsatu addresses UN Security Council on behalf of NGO working group on Women, Peace and Security. June Nigeria assumes command of a regional military force to counter Boko Haram, to include troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin. July Hamsatu finally disengages with Borno State government service. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 19 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

20 August Splinters occur within Boko Haram with new leadership declared by Abu Musab al-barnawi (the biological son of Muhammad Yusuf) in opposition to Shekau. Al-Barnawi refers to his faction as the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA). September The University of San Diego chooses Hamsatu as one of its four Women Peacemakers. Hamsatu travels to San Diego to participate in the 10-week program. On a panel moderated by Nicolas Kristof of the New York Times, Hamsatu speaks at the United Nations on Women s Leadership and Gender Perspectives on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism. October Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers kill at least nine people in Maiduguri. Boko Haram releases 21 Chibok girls. November Hamsatu returns to Maiduguri to continue her peace-building initiatives, including her outreach to Boko Haram, her efforts to realign social norms, and the radio program and educational manuals aimed at countering the existing narrative that says Western education is at odds with Islam. Hamsatu also goes back with plans to introduce solar cookers to impoverished areas where fuel is scarce and sunlight abundant. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 20 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

21 NARRATIVE STORIES OF THE LIFE OF HAMSATU ALLAMIN OF NIGERIA Prologue Michele Obama didn t know Hamsatu Allamin. Neither did Malala Yousafzai, Amy Poehler, Justin Timberlake, and scores of other celebrities. But because of a press conference Hamsatu, a human rights activist, spearheaded in her home city of Maiduguri, Nigeria, in April of 2014, those celebrities and millions of people all over the world came to know of the abduction by the insurgent group, Boko Haram, of 200+ girls from a boarding school in Chibok, a village in Borno State. And thousands subsequently took to social media to demand the girls be returned to their homes. Word of their kidnapping had reached Hamsatu the morning after it happened through a phone call from an associate who lived in Chibok. The Nigerian government s initial response to the incident ranged from obfuscation to denial. Rumors replaced information. Hearsay doubled as news. A full four days after the girls were taken in the middle of the night from their dormitory, little was officially reported on the incident and nothing was known about their whereabouts. Those whose daughters had disappeared wondered why their country s security forces hadn t been able to quickly find hundreds of teenage girls, a cadre of insurgents, and a convoy of vehicles in the expanse around Chibok a lonely landscape dotted with thorny bushes and scattered trees. Against the backdrop of virtual silence on the matter, Hamsatu contacted a colleague in Maiduguri s civil society Professor Hauwa Abdu Biu to help coordinate a press conference to draw attention to what had happened in Chibok. The two hoped that the publicity would create international pressure on the government to do more to find the girls and to dialogue with the insurgents to end the rampant violence that threatened the future of their country. That was the plan that brought together 18 women leaders from Borno State to stand in solidarity before members of the media and listen as one of their own, Professor Biu, read the statement she and Hamsatu had worked on together: Women Peace and Security network under the leadership of the Borno outreach of BAOBAB for Women Human Rights and other concerned women in Borno State wish to condemn the abduction of female students of GGSS Chibok as well as other females from Dikwa and other parts of the North Eastern States by suspected members of Jamaatul ahlil sunna Lidaawati wal Jihad. Such acts are inhuman and capable of affecting the efforts of enhancing girl child education and development in the state and the country at large. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 21 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

22 This idea of invading schools and causing havoc on the lives of future leaders, particularly future mothers of Nigeria, is a way of violating international humanitarian law. Women in Borno State condemn in its totality such acts of violence as attacks on schools deny children their rights to learn in a safe environment there by jeopardizing their future. We also condemn all other attacks in the form of bomb blasts and serial killings all over the country in its entirety and commiserate with the families of all those that lost their lives during the unfortunate incidences. While calling on the sect members to please release all those in their custody without harming them, and as a matter of urgency lay down their arms and embrace dialogue, we wish to assure them of our motherly support towards rehabilitating them when the need arises. While commending the efforts of both Federal, Borno State government and other security personnel as well as the Borno youth volunteers toward addressing the current insurgency attacks in the state, and bearing in mind the attacks on schools, we wish to appeal for the provision of adequate security to all schools so as to have safe learning environment to enable building a promising future for the country. National and international media outlets picked up the story, and the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, the British-sponsored nongovernmental organization Hamsatu worked for, helped spread the word, as well. Before long, people all over the globe from those in the upper echelons of power to those with family and friends on Facebook and Twitter took up the cry of the mothers and fathers of Chibok: Bring back our girls. Hamsatu s connection with that story and others involving Boko Haram started long before that hashtag trended. The path to her advocacy began decades earlier, the day her father announced she would go to school... WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 22 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

23 Becoming Hamsatu Allamin Early Lesson Sitting sideways on the crossbar of the bike, Hamsatu gripped the center of the handlebars as her father, pedaling hard, navigated the winding, narrow roads of Maiduguri. They were on their way to Gamboru Jr. Primary School where Hamsatu would begin her education. The morning sun, shining through the feathery leaves of the neighborhood s many neem trees, cast dappled shadows on the hard-packed route. Looking down, Hamsatu saw the steady rise and fall of her father s black boot part of his uniform as an inspector at the local slaughterhouse. She smiled at the sight of her own small feet, dangling in red rubber sandals, bought especially for this day. She d been looking forward to it ever since she d overheard her father telling her mother that it was his decision that Hamsatu their firstborn daughter attend school. did? Why? Hamsatu s mother had asked. Why can t she just stay at home, like I In the Hausa tribe Hamsatu s mother was from, girls were typically given in marriage at the age of 12 or 13. For women in that time and place, book-learning seemed superfluous for a life spent cooking, cleaning, bearing and raising children. Many children. The world is changing, Hamsatu s father answered. Our daughters will go to school. Hamsatu was aware of other differences between her mother and father. Her father, a member of the tight-knit Kanuri tribe that made up nearly the entire population of Maiduguri, was the son of a renowned Islamic scholar, and an Islamic scholar himself. He grew up in the home where he now lived with his wife, children Hamsatu, the oldest and his aging mother, who was also a Hausa. Theirs was a compound gifted years ago by the emir to Hamsatu s grandfather because of the depth and breadth of his knowledge of the Quran. Hamsatu s father was fluent in the language of the Kanuri, but at home they all spoke Hausa. It was the only language the little girl now on her way to a school full of Kanuri children knew. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 23 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

24 Hamsatu lifted one hand off the handlebars to pat the head scarf that covered her hair, intricately plaited in a style called zanan yawo, unique to the Hausa culture. She leaned lightly against her father s chest. His arms, firmly on the handlebars, enfolded her like a hug. She looked up at him. The hue of his skin, the set of his eyes, the line of his lips all so much like her own, people often said. Unlike most in their community, neither Hamsatu nor her father bore the tribal markings on their cheeks of the Kanuri tribe. Scars that told her world, If you don t have these, you don t belong. His mother, who d lost several children early on to sickness and accidents, couldn t bear to have her youngest child Hamsatu s father put through the pain of that tradition. Hamsatu loved her father, even when he scolded her if she neglected to say the daily prayers he d patiently taught her in accordance with the Quran. Or when she mischievously snuck some extra bites of the kola nuts he d set aside. Or when she overfed and accidentally killed a passel of newly hatched chicks, playmates of hers in a make-believe tea party gone wrong. Up until now, Hamsatu had had few playmates. Her world had essentially been circumscribed by the thatch fence that surrounded the family compound. And her grandmother was extremely protective of this child who d been named after her. Come, Chiwuna, sit, she d say, using a term of endearment for Hamsatu that meant namesake, and patting the cotton cover of her bed. I ll tell you a story. Yes, Na am, Hamsatu dutifully answered, settling in for another re-telling. The happy thought of finally having friends her own age fueled Hamsatu s excitement this morning. And when the bike slowed through the shade of the mango trees near the entrance to the school, Hamsatu felt her heart racing. With her father signing the admission paperwork in the school office, Hamsatu was escorted by a teacher to the first grade classroom a structure made of mud bricks and roofed with corrugated metal, much like Hamsatu s house. The familiarity of that bolstered her a bit as she shyly made her way into the room, past the stares of the 20 or so children already there, sitting on the ground. And as she sat down to join them, a collective murmur coursed through the room, followed by muffled laughter as a boy with scarred cheeks and forehead like most Kanuri children mockingly whispered, A Hausa girl is here. A Hausa girl is here. And even though Hamsatu didn t understand all the Kanuri words he was saying, she heard the term Hausa and felt the derision with which it was said. That moment WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 24 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

25 marked the beginning of a kind of covert hazing of the Hausa girl by the children she had once hoped would be her first friends. At recess no one played with her. She ate her lunch alone. Kids taunted her about the millet mixed with yogurt they knew to be a traditional Hausa staple, a dough called fura. Dough-eater, they sneered in low tones as she walked by. Hamsatu told no one what she was enduring. Not her teachers. Not her parents. She didn t want to continue going to school, but she knew how important education was not only to her father, but also to their religion. The Quran, her father had explained to her, begins with the words, Read. Read in the name of the Lord who created. The Prophet Muhammad himself emphasized the importance of learning. Seeking knowledge is the duty of every Muslim, he had said. Every night before another school day, Hamsatu struggled to hold in her tears until she was sure the grownups were sleeping. Hamsatu came to know all too well that her Kanuri schoolmates viewed her with her smooth, unmarked face, her completely covered hair, and her Hausa accent as some sort of alien, some sort of other. But what could she do, except do her best to get good grades and make her father proud? One day, as Hamsatu sat in the classroom, quietly working to do exactly that, a boy popped up and snatched the scarf off her head, revealing for the first time the plaiting of her Hausa hair, so different from the braiding that peeked out to frame the identifying scar on the foreheads of the Kanuri girls. The teacher came rushing when she heard the children s hoots, shouts, and cruel laughter spilling into the courtyard. Enough! she said, standing in the doorway. The commotion stopped. What s going on here?! The children squirmed in their places, sliding their eyes in Hamsatu s direction. This time her tears didn t wait. Who did this? the teacher, seeing Hamsatu s bare, bowed head, asked. All eyes slowly slid in the direction of the perpetrator a boy named Loskurima, the tell-tale scarf crumpled beside him. I see, she said ominously. OK, then. For now, get back to work, children. We ll deal with this tomorrow. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 25 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

26 The next day, a bell was rung calling the entire student body to proceed to the courtyard for a morning assembly. The headmaster, teacher, Hamsatu, her father, and the boy who took her scarf stood before the gathering group of about 100 students and faculty. When everyone had finally shuffled into place, the teacher talked about what had happened in her class the day before. Now, do you see this person here? the teacher added, gesturing to the man in the black boots standing beside Hamsatu. The children nodded. He is her father, she said. And he is also my brother. She used the term brother, not literally, but to make the point that they were of the same tribe. Kanuri. In effect, she was telling the children that Hamsatu, the daughter of a Kanuri man, was also a Kanuri, in spite of her Hausa hair and everything else. So, if anyone here ever dares again to call Hamsatu a Hausa girl, that student will be flogged. First, Loskurima was ordered to apologize publicly to the Hamsatu. I m sorry, he squeaked, eyeing the whip made of hippo hide the headmaster was holding. Then he was told to drop to the ground and lie face to the sand. All eyes in the crowd watched the supple rod rise. They heard it whistle through the air and land with a thwack on Loskurima s lower back. Then again. And again. Six times, in all. Hamsatu watched solemnly as this all played out, flinching ever so slightly each time the whip met its mark. Things gradually got better after that. But the incident and its implied message would stay with Hamsatu all her life. The teacher didn t say, Children, let s do our best to welcome this stranger a Hausa girl into our midst. Let s share with her what we know to be true, but also be willing to listen, learn, and in the process, make this world we all live in a little larger. That would have reinforced what Hamsatu s father had told her the Prophet had said: Seek knowledge even if it is as far as China. What Hamsatu and her classmates were hearing now was that the only way to gain inclusion in their world was to be a Kanuri. She knew that to be Kanuri was also to WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 26 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

27 be Muslim. Some Kanuri even went an extreme step further, believing that if you weren t one of their tribe, you couldn t possibly be a real Muslim. Hamsatu knew, firsthand, what it felt like to be an outsider. And at the tender age of 6, she also came to know in an elementary way that when one s worldview is defined by the divisions inherent in the labels Us and Them, all sides suffer. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 27 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

28 To Begin Again Standing in the hot, cramped kitchen a few weeks after delivering her third child in as many years, Hamsatu called for her in-law s kids to help her with preparations for the evening meal that would break the Ramadan fast. Bone tired and still weak from the birth, Hamsatu felt increasingly overburdened by the traditional responsibilities of being The Woman of the House, the overseer not only of her immediate family s well-being, but of everyone s under that roof several of her husband s siblings and their children, as well. Hamsatu was frustrated, too, at the circumstances that had brought her to this moment: an arranged marriage at age 18 to an honorable man, but one old enough to be her father; babies arriving in rapid succession; day-to-day societal pressures at odds with what she d hoped for in life; and the overarching desire to act always in accordance with her Islamic faith and all that her father had taught her. Coupled with the full load of college coursework she had just completed to earn a degree in English and education, it had all become too much. She called out again, louder this time. Though everyone was at home, no one bothered to respond, until finally her shouts could no longer be ignored. What s the matter with you? her husband snapped, arriving in the kitchen along with everyone else in the house. Hamsatu told him, and a heated argument ensued a litany on both sides of expectations neither could fulfill. Hamsatu knew her husband had done everything he could to make his young wife happy: grudgingly allowing her to continue her education, even buying her a car to get her to class after the birth of his first child. But his efforts weren t working any more, if, in fact, they ever had. The pressures of her role in the extended family, her in-laws view of her as an interloper, her immaturity, her feeling of helplessness, her hopes for the future all these things could no longer be denied. Back and forth they argued, two people in the grip of cultural forces and their own maddening inability to make things right for themselves and each other. In the heat of the kitchen and the moment, Hamsatu s husband did something he d never done before. He grabbed her roughly near the neckline of her loose-fitting gumaje and yanked her toward him. Now their faces were so close, they could feel each other s breath. Neither blinked. Let me go, she whispered evenly. And it was clear she wasn t simply referring to the fistful of fabric he held in his hand. Seconds passed in a minute that seemed like a millennium. OK then. If that s what you want, I divorce you. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 28 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

29 With the pot of rice still simmering on the stove and her in-laws speechless for a change, Hamsatu was out the door, running in the moonlight, back to her childhood home. Only her month-old son arrived at the house on Abba Amsta Nglaiyama Street with Hamsatu that evening. She left her other two children with their father and her inlaws quite possibly, for good. Her situation felt so bleak, Hamsatu found herself willing to do even that. Somehow she d move on. As a divorced woman, she wouldn t need to ask for her husband s permission to get a job. Nor her father s. According to Islamic tradition, she was free. The very next day, she headed to the Civil Service Commission, filled out an application, gained an interview, and was quickly offered a teaching position and a path to self-sufficiency. But the community was still buzzing with the news of the divorce. Because Hamsatu s husband had only said the words I divorce you one time, not three, the possibility remained again, according to Islamic tradition for a reconciliation. Local elders and her husband s relatives soon began lobbying for the two to get back together. One by one and in groups, they called on her father the situation discussed at length and without Hamsatu s participation. It wasn t long, though, before her father broached the topic with her. We must talk, he said, striding into the room where she and her mother were sitting. Hamsatu understood the predicament she d put him in. People would lose respect for him as a man and a father if he allowed her to live with them when her husband was willing to take her back, as he d indicated through the steady stream of emissaries. She thought back to all the times her father been her champion not just encouraging her to continue into higher education, but also secretly helping her to fund it. She remembered, too, how he taught her the prayers every good Muslim knows, and the pride she saw in his eyes when he heard her recite them perfectly. Back when he had insisted that she marry before she d begin her college career, he justified it as a means for her to avoid the temptations he said too often befall young women on a campus. And because she had no doubt that he always had her best interests at heart, Hamsatu acquiesced. WOMEN PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM 29 JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE