Baga town is located in Kukawa Local Government area of Borno State in the north-eastern part of Nigeria. The town is well known for its commercial activities such as farming and fishing, because of its proximity to Lake Chad. Baga town is approximately 196Km from Maiduguri, the state capital. Furthermore, Baga town as a center of commerce, farming and fish market is one of the biggest revenue generators to Borno State Government.
However, the town as of 2013 experienced a major setback in its commercial activities due to the fight between Nigerian military and Boko Haram terrorist group which led to the death of over 185 innocent people and the destruction of property.
In January 2015, the town was attacked and captured by Boko Haram, including the military base used by the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) as the town was burnt down and many people were massacred.
Again, on 27 December, 2018, Baga town military base was attacked by Boko haram, killing 10 people. Reportedly, the attack was an attempt to take over the town by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, a Boko Haram faction operating in the northern part of Borno State under the leadership of Abu-Musab.
However, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum’s administration came on board with 10 points agenda with security as the major priority. Prof. Zulum during his inaugural speech in 2019 said his administration would accord maximum attention to the security of lives and property as well as food security.
Governor Zulum once said, “We will not sleep until Borno fully regains peace by the grace of God.” This indicates that Zulum is working tirelessly to ensure that peace is restored to Borno State. But this seems to be a difficult task as he planned and set up a committee to return all internally displaced persons (IDPs) back to their ancestral homes. In the process Governor Zulum was attacked several times by suspected ISWAP fighters. The governor has accused the Nigerian Army of being responsible for the attack on his convoy in August, 2020 while on a trip to Monguno and Baga towns to distribute food to IDPs. Governor Zulum said after the attack, “You (soldiers) have been here for over one year now, there are 1,181 soldiers here; if you cannot take over Baga which is less than 5km from your base, then we should forget about Baga. I will inform the Chief of Army Staff to redeploy the men to other places that they can be useful.”
Governor Zulum also said what happened to him was a complete sabotage from the military. Many people are of the opinion that the military has keen interest in controlling Baga town because of its economic viability. Some are even claiming that the military is engaging in business of farming and fishing activities within the town, gaining millions of naira as profits.
In September 2020, Governor Zulum security convoy was attacked by ISWAP fighters, killing at least 15 security operatives while on their way to resettle Baga communities in Kukawa. The Governor condemned the attack on his convoy, saying, “I can’t be frightened by attacks while serving my people.” Zulum also said, “I will go to Baga again and again and by Allah’s will, we will resettle Marte town in October and Insha Allah we will then move to resettle people in Abadam.” This clearly indicates that Governor Zulum will not rest until all IDPs are relocated back to their ancestral homes as promised.
Mohammed Hassan, Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri
