By Gambo Dori
I had been woken up by the muezzin’s first call. It was still dark as dawn was steps away. My phone, lying beside me, seemed to be blinking continuously. When I opened the WhatsApp portal, I found it brimming with messages, especially from my associates in Maiduguri. The messages were all bearing the news of another attack, or so it seemed, on Giwa Barracks, located in the Galtimari area of Maiduguri. Pictures of billowing bright fire rising atop the barracks adorned most of the messages. I groaned and muttered to myself, ‘Oh, no, not Giwa Barracks again.’
Though I now live in Abuja, my Maiduguri residence is within walking distance of the barracks. Many such horrific occurrences, particularly in those days when Boko Haram insurgents were causing havoc in Maiduguri, flashed through my mind. Grogginess from sleep immediately cleared, and I followed my messages closely. What was initially thought to be an attack turned out to be a gargantuan fire within the barracks, probably coming from the armoury. There are pictures and videos of a stream of people running here and there from all the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Pandemonium, chaos, seemed to be the order of the night. The stampede must have been a sight to see at that time of night. As dawn approached, there were indications that the fire had died down and normalcy was returning. It must have been quite a harrowing night for the neighbourhood of the barracks. I guess most of the houses around the barracks must have hurriedly emptied into the streets when the fire struck.
Unusually, the barracks has an untidy placement now as it stands bestride a well-appointed civilian neighbourhood. When the barracks was built many years ago, there was a considerable distance between the GRA and its perimeters. The barracks was said to have been built as a military school for signal and communication, and in 1979 was transformed to become the office of the Brigade Commander of 21 Armoured Brigade. In those days, even the surrounding villages of Galtimari, Kayamla and other smaller settlements were away from the barracks.
However, as from the 1970s, the GRA expanded exponentially in all directions. The House of Assembly quarters were built in the vicinity of the barracks in the early 1980s, and several other developers moved in. Galtimari, Kayamla and the surrounding villages all blossomed, merging with the GRA and adjoining the barracks. The barracks was surrounded and truly integrated into the neighbourhood within a short while. When I moved to my residence in 1990, the Giwa barracks was still some distance away from the main GRA. It was still a standalone structure. There was a small settlement with the curious name of ‘village’ between us, where we congregated for the Friday prayers.
When Boko Haram began their wave of attacks and bombings in Maiduguri, Giwa Barracks became a perennial target. It was, famously, first attacked and ransacked by the insurgents in 2014. The insurgents were said to have targeted the barracks to free their fellows who were incarcerated in cells within. They succeeded in releasing many of the inmates and caused mayhem in the neighbourhood. There was a stampede into Maiduguri.
Many of the escaped inmates were eventually recaptured, but the insurgents never relented. They ceaselessly continued to attack the barracks. In 2015, they attacked the barracks at least three times, first in January, then in February and finally in May. In all these attacks, many civilians, caught in the crossfire or the melee, reportedly lost their lives. It was only when the military all-out assault was launched on the insurgents that year that it finally brought some modicum of peace to the barracks and its neighbours.
However, a new kind of hazard has now emerged. Even without the attacks, the highly inflammable items stored in the barracks constitute enough peril to the neighbourhood. Let’s not forget that a similar tragic occurrence in Lagos in 2002, when the armoury in one of the barracks exploded, the death toll was reported to be over a thousand civilian lives. This all adds up to the plain fact that the Giwa Barracks in its present location is a danger to the neighbourhood.
When there were persistent attacks on the barracks some 10 years ago, there were agitations to relocate it further away from the populace. Because of the relative peace that had prevailed in Maiduguri since then, the agitations piped down. This, nonetheless, did not deter the young man representing the Jere Federal Constituency, Engr Satomi Ahmad, from sponsoring a motion in 2019, in the House of Representatives, asking the Brigade Commander, 21 Armoured Brigade, to move the barracks some kilometres away from the area. The motion was passed, but nothing happened thereafter. For Rep Satomi, it was a visionary thing to do at the time. Besides, the motion was well-articulated. Satomi remains the representative, and he would continue to be under pressure to have a positive outcome to his motion.
From my perspective, the state government would need to coordinate with the leadership of the brigade, provide a suitable place some kilometres away and work towards moving the barracks. Giwa Barracks needs to relocate.
@Daily Trust
