Stitching Wounds

00:00:00:

00:00:26: What may come across as an old-fashioned, practical exercise for medical students is something completely different.

00:00:33: These are not medical students who learn to stitch wounds of average patients, but they are insurgents who receive practical training to treat their fellow fighters.

00:00:45: The voice you have just heard is the voice of a man named Bubar.

00:00:49: He stands by a battered wooden stall in Maidugori's central market, a city in northeastern Nigeria.

00:00:55: A few fish dangle from hooks, and the midday sun beats down on his green tracksuit.

00:01:01: Here, amid the sizzling street food stands and the echo of distant traffic, he sometimes remembers the boy he once was, a boy who dreamed of medicine, of saving lives instead of taking them.

00:01:17: This is the Sahel untold Stories of Resilience.

00:01:20: I'm Claudia Breitung, a researcher at the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies.

00:01:25: I will guide you through this episode of our documentary podcast.

00:01:29: It aims to share personal stories of people from the Sahel, a region often described as fragile, facing a diverse set of challenges such as climate change, poverty and the presence of extremist groups.

00:01:42: And while this is true, there is always another side to the story, one we want to tell you about in this podcast series, stories of resilience that focus on overcoming challenges.

00:01:58: In our first episode, we meet Bubba, a young man who once hoped to become a doctor.

00:02:03: He saw his future in a white coat, stethoscope around his neck, saving lives.

00:02:09: Medicine was his dream until life had other plans.

00:02:13: Somewhere on the way his path shifted.

00:02:17: Instead of becoming a medical professional, Buber found himself stitching wounds of Bukoram fighters deep in some Beezer forest, a remote border region between Cameroon and Nigeria, a vast and untamed wildness.

00:02:32: You might have heard the name Boko Haram before.

00:02:34: For some, the name of this jihadist group is all too familiar.

00:02:39: For others, listening to Buber's story will help you understand who Boko Haram is and what the group and its plinter factions do to the people living under its rule.

00:02:50: Buber's story forces us to confront an uncomfortable question.

00:02:55: How does a compassionate, young man who dreams of healing end up stitching wounds of the very people causing them.

00:03:13: From a young age, Bubba dreamed of becoming a doctor.

00:03:17: Whenever someone in his family fell ill, he would accompany them to the clinic, eager to observe and learn.

00:03:25: At the clinic, Bubba watched in quiet fascination, soaking in every detail, the doctors doing their work, the power of knowledge that could ease pain.

00:03:34: In those moments, he wasn't just a young boy in the waiting room.

00:03:38: He was a doctor in the making.

00:03:59: But like many young people in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in northeastern Nigeria, his ambition collided with a harsh reality.

00:04:08: By two thousand nine, Boko Haram had escalated its insurgency in Borno State, targeting police stations, government buildings and civilians.

00:04:18: Bodies lie in the street after a gun battle between police and Boko Haram fighters in the Nigerian city of Bouchi.

00:04:25: A deadly attack by Boko Haram in the northeast of Nigeria killed at least sixteen people.

00:04:32: Many of the victims were children.

00:04:34: Of all the civilian deaths in African war zones last year, nearly half involved Boko Haram.

00:04:40: Maiduguri, Buber's hometown, quickly became the epicentre of violence and left him with fewer and fewer ways to survive.

00:04:50: For young men like him, life was a daily struggle.

00:04:53: Poverty weighed heavy.

00:04:55: Opportunities were scarce and frustrations simmered in the heat of the streets.

00:05:07: We've just heard how Buber spent his childhood dreaming of medical school.

00:05:12: But to better understand why those dreams took a dark detour, we need to look at the city he calls home, Maiduguri.

00:05:20: At the height of the Bukoharam crisis, fear and chaos gripped every corner.

00:05:25: Maiduguri was once a bustling city alive with energy known for its trade and cultural heritage.

00:05:33: But the city was soon transformed into a front line of conflict marked by violence and displacement.

00:05:43: Boko Haram's attacks included bombings, suicide missions and armed assaults.

00:05:50: These targeted markets, mosques, churches, schools and military installations.

00:05:57: Residents lived under constant threat as the group enforced its strict interpretation of Islamic law through violence.

00:06:04: The city became a target not only because of its strategic importance but also as a symbolic heart of resistance with the Nigerian military and local community defence groups fighting back.

00:06:17: Security checkpoints dotted the city and the presence of military convoys became a daily sight.

00:06:24: Schools and hospitals were stretched thin.

00:06:27: Shops and businesses in some areas had to close due to the insecurity and imposition of curfews.

00:06:34: The city became overcrowded with thousands of displaced people crammed into camps or makeshift shelters leading to a humanitarian crisis.

00:06:44: Life in Maiduguri at that time was defined by disruption and uncertainty.

00:06:50: For many, it was the violence that dominated their daily lives.

00:06:54: But for Bubba, it wasn't just this horrible situation.

00:06:57: It was personal loss and economic uncertainty that added to these struggles.

00:07:11: His father's death also left a mark, leaving behind a family with no stable income.

00:07:17: For Bubba, his turn to an extremist group like Boko Haram wasn't just about religion or ideology.

00:07:24: It was also economic survival and a chance to reclaim a dream he feared was slipping away.

00:07:32: Now that we know about the challenging situation unfolding in Maiduguri at that time, let's see how the violence and uncertainty set Buber on a path he could not easily leave.

00:07:43: In our next segment, he recalls the moment he met a man named Omar, whose promises would change his life forever.

00:07:54: Up to this point, we've seen how economic hardship and personal ambition shaped Buber's outlook.

00:08:01: But for him, the tipping point came when he met Omar.

00:08:04: a charismatic figure who promised a sense of belonging, but also money and income.

00:08:10: That makes the difference between being seen as a burden and being respected as a provider.

00:08:16: Now, as Wuba recounts how he was lured into Bukoharam, listen for the moment when hope and desperation collide.

00:08:24: So after I graduated, in the year of two thousand nine, I go to Jamaica, Yola, that is Adamor stage.

00:08:31: I was selling.

00:08:34: after completing secondary school in two thousand nine buber moved to yola in adama our state which shares the border with kamerun.

00:08:42: after i went there i will i start the business as i come new coma.

00:08:49: so some people that are in the same area.

00:08:53: they are showing to me how to do the business

00:08:56: or

00:08:56: do this?

00:08:57: you do this then i know how to do the business.

00:09:02: Buber's decision to leave home was not unusual at a time when young men across the region were searching for opportunities to make a living, escaping the cycle of poverty, searching for dignity, purpose, and a chance to shape their future.

00:09:18: But what began as a move to grow his small business turned into something far more consequential.

00:09:23: In that business, I met with Umar Yarema.

00:09:27: His meeting with Umar, a Boko Haram member, became a key moment for Buber.

00:09:32: Oma was persuasive, strategically clever, and knew how to recognize young men like Buber, men with dreams, but also with weaknesses and insecurities, who felt unheard, powerless.

00:09:45: I said, okay, go and meet him at night, and he told me to sit down here.

00:09:49: I said, then he starts telling me something about what's happening, you know what is going on.

00:10:02: This initial meeting with Omar was the beginning of an important turning point in Buba's life.

00:10:09: At first, Buba thought Omar was a business partner, but slowly he introduces him to the beliefs of Bukoram.

00:10:16: Then he gave me one photography book.

00:10:22: I said, go and read this.

00:10:24: He told me that you read it, yes.

00:10:44: While Buber was being pulled into darkness by Omar's manipulation, across the city, other young men were making a different choice.

00:10:52: They too faced the same chaos, but their response was to fight back.

00:11:00: While Buber quickly settled into the insurgency, another force was rising on the streets of Maiduguri.

00:11:06: Ordinary citizens who refused to let their communities be taken.

00:11:10: Students, traders, farmers, boys barely old enough to be called men.

00:11:17: They had no weapons, no training, no uniforms, at least in the beginning.

00:11:22: But what they did have was anger.

00:11:24: A deep frustration about a hopeless situation.

00:11:28: and a strong desire to protect their families and loved ones.

00:11:32: One of these groups was the Civilian Joint Task Force, the CJTF.

00:11:37: This group played a crucial role in combating Boko Haram within the city.

00:11:42: Next, we'll hear from a CJTF member describing how they banded together in the early days to fight back.

00:12:02: This was the voice of Baba Shehul Abdul Ghanio, a senior CJTF commander and vice chairman of the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council.

00:12:11: He describes the situation from his own perspective, one that makes it clear to us how and why more and more people in the region try to defend themselves against Bukoram, ordinary citizens who were armed with little more than courage.

00:12:25: Many of my friends have been killed.

00:12:27: Our brothers and sisters have been killed.

00:12:31: And we are also targets of the Boko Harams.

00:12:35: When they have seen you, you are just westernized.

00:12:39: You joined the western education.

00:12:41: You are also a target.

00:12:42: They are killing lawyers, all these paramilitaries.

00:12:46: They kill many people at that time.

00:12:49: Even small kids, even one hundred years woman.

00:12:51: So that's why we deute.

00:12:54: We decided to join the security.

00:12:57: We said enough is enough.

00:13:01: Enough is enough.

00:13:03: Deep frustration and determination stand behind these words.

00:13:07: The state, security forces and justice mechanisms were unable to deal with horrible atrocities committed by Boko Haram.

00:13:16: Security forces overwhelmed and often outmatched could not provide the stability people so desperately needed.

00:13:24: In this vacuum, ordinary men like Babashio took matters into their own hands, willing to fix the situation.

00:13:33: With the deep knowledge of the region, its people and its terrain, Babashio and others like him became crucial to the fight against Boko Haram.

00:13:41: They knew Maidugori and the surrounding areas like the back of their hand.

00:13:46: They understood the rhythms of the community, using their local knowledge to protect their homes, to track insurgents, and pushback against the horror that had taken over their lives.

00:13:57: Babashi Hu and his counterparts didn't just act independently.

00:14:01: They worked closely with the military, providing valuable intelligence, tactical support and crucial guidance on the ground.

00:14:10: Their collaboration with security forces proved instrumental in strengthening local defense efforts, creating a bridge between the community and formal military operations.

00:14:20: As we drain, Everybody knows who is Boko Haram in his community.

00:14:24: Everybody knows it.

00:14:25: Because he said, you are a neighbor.

00:14:29: If it is not you are a neighbor, you are praying neighbors.

00:14:32: So we know them.

00:14:33: They are coming with their guns, collecting money, trading us.

00:14:37: We swear with the holy book that we say enough is enough.

00:14:41: We will join the security agencies and point out or pitch out all the Boko Haram element that is in our community.

00:14:49: What Babashio describes as a reality for many communities.

00:14:53: Boko Haram fighters are not faceless outsiders.

00:14:57: They are known.

00:14:58: They are neighbors, acquaintances or even former friends.

00:15:03: Their presence in the community is no secret.

00:15:06: But it doesn't stop at just knowing who they are.

00:15:10: Many community members actively point them out, drawing attention to their presence and their actions.

00:15:16: But even with this awareness, one question remains, where are the authorities?

00:15:30: There appear to be difficulties in the relationship between the communities and the state and its security forces.

00:15:37: As a result, the communities find themselves trapped between opposing forces and fractured.

00:15:44: Like other members of his community, Babashio felt unsafe in the hands of Boko Haram, but also unsafe in the hands of the military.

00:15:53: When Boko Haram launched an attack, there was no clear line between friend and foe.

00:15:59: If you were

00:15:59: in the wrong place at the wrong time, you became a target.

00:16:03: In the eyes of the military, everyone became a suspect.

00:16:08: The fear of being caught in the crossfire often be punished for things they never did, was overwhelming also for Babishio.

00:16:17: The truth of the matter, we are not safe in the hands of the Boko Haram at that time.

00:16:22: And also, we are not safe in the hands of the military also.

00:16:27: When Boko Haram fired them, or armed with them, they don't know who is who.

00:16:31: They would just come down to the border, call on the

00:16:35: police, arrest

00:16:37: the bad one and the good one, and take them to the uber.

00:16:54: that is Jais.

00:16:58: Between the violence of Boko Haram and the military's counter-insurgency efforts, many civilians like Baba Shiho saw no choice but to act.

00:17:08: With police stations deserted and civilian institutions barely functioning, Formal justice was no longer an option.

00:17:17: Imagine waking up one day and realizing that the institutions you once relied on, police stations, courts, the very fabric of justice, are simply not working the way they should.

00:17:30: Not just understaffed, not just delayed, completely absent.

00:17:35: What does that do to a person like Babashio, to a community?

00:17:39: At

00:17:39: that time, I think You would heard that, some people are saying civilians just they are doing the case of, so at that high time we don't have police station, we don't have court, we don't have anything, any civil authorities on ground.

00:17:52: So if they bring a civil case to a soldier, a military man will just call you and say, hey, civilians just handle this case, look at the case.

00:18:03: Then we'll sit down and look at the case, even his case of negotiating and all that will negotiate them.

00:18:09: And then I report back to them, this is what we

00:18:11: did.".

00:18:11: While the civilian joint task force gained the trust of residents, it was also accused of excesses in its pursuit of insurgents.

00:18:20: As the fight against Boko Haram intensified, so did the accusations against the CJTF.

00:18:26: What started as a desperate defence of their homes began to blur the lines between justice and vengeance.

00:18:38: As Babashi Hu outlines, taking Boko Haram members to justice was not their only responsibility.

00:18:44: Babashi'u and his CJTF made up of local volunteers provided critical intelligence to the military, leveraging their knowledge of the terrain and communities.

00:18:55: Well, at that time, our primary responsibility is to identify who is the Boko Haram and testify with the Holy Quran in front of the public.

00:19:07: This man is a Boko Haram.

00:19:08: I will testify with the Holy Book and hand over to the military.

00:19:12: But besides providing critical intelligence, Babashio and his fellow CJTF members were also involved in active combat operations, jointly with the military.

00:19:23: With a sense of pride, he describes that he was part of the mission to open Baga, a place that, at that time, was a contested and dangerous battleground where Babashio and his fellow comrades were ambushed, completely caught off guard.

00:19:38: The situation was so dire, that news spread in Maiduguri that they had all been killed.

00:20:00: But here's where the story takes a turn.

00:20:03: Instead of retreating, instead of surrendering to fear, they stood their ground.

00:20:08: They resisted the attack.

00:20:10: And in the end, They won.

00:20:12: So we did not run at that time.

00:20:14: We resist the fire and we win the war at that time.

00:20:17: Yes, with the military, with the police at that time.

00:20:21: We stay and resist the fire.

00:20:22: We continue firing them.

00:20:25: We chase them away as we went to Baguio and spent one week before we come back.

00:20:32: As we are coming, that the heart that we are alive, all the families, they went to that well comes.

00:20:50: Imagine returning after being presumed dead, only to see your family waiting, crying, overwhelmed with emotion, the tears, the sheer magnitude of the moment.

00:21:02: It wasn't just about personal survival, it was about being embraced back into life by loved ones who thought they had lost them.

00:21:11: For a moment there's triumph, a sense of relief, even pride.

00:21:16: You stood your ground, fought against the odds, and came out alive.

00:21:21: But then reality creeps back in, the war isn't over, the fight isn't done, the enemy is still out there, regrouping, planning.

00:21:30: You survive today, but what about tomorrow?

00:21:36: While the CJTF was instrumental in fighting back Boko Haram and Ki, In identifying Bukhara members hiding within the community, it was also fighting an enemy which was hard to see.

00:21:49: One that continued to be skillful in luring people in by promising a better life, well-equipped and good at training new records like Buber, whom we follow in this episode.

00:22:05: Omar's promise of money and purpose was also too tempting for Buber to ignore.

00:22:10: So he followed Omar to a safe house where he held a gun in his hand for the first time in his life.

00:22:17: This brings us back to his story and his experiences within the group.

00:22:36: In that moment, Bubba stepped over an invisible threshold.

00:22:39: He feels a mix of temptation, curiosity, but also unease and fear as he steps into an unfamiliar and dangerous world.

00:22:49: The tool he once imagined holding was a stethoscope, not an AK-IVII, but necessity, desperation and ideology now entwined were reshaping his fate in ways he never expected.

00:23:02: The first lesson was small arms training.

00:23:05: He describes those first ten days when he learned how to handle weapons.

00:23:11: He showed me how to open The switch will show me how to cock the gun.

00:23:18: If you are doing like this, it will cut your hand.

00:23:22: Do like this, it will not cut your hand.

00:23:25: If you do like this, the switch will cut your hand.

00:23:27: If you do like this, the switch will not cut your hand.

00:23:30: It will show me how to stand, how to be on your knee, how to lie down, everything.

00:23:38: Two days I was trained there.

00:23:40: At first it was just the basics.

00:23:42: how to handle a firearm without injuring yourself, how to switch the safety off, how to load a magazine, how to position your body to fire accurately.

00:23:53: The trainee, Buber, was still an insecure recruit, a newcomer without experience.

00:24:00: But with these lessons drilled into him and hours of repetition, step by step, Buber learned the mechanics.

00:24:08: His stance became steady and sure.

00:24:10: He was being transformed.

00:24:12: into a combatant.

00:24:14: Then, he was taken to Sambisa Forest, the Boko Haram stronghold.

00:24:20: I was taken to Sambisa Forest, and I was trained for four months.

00:24:25: I trained for AK-Porty-Seven, FMG-III, B-III, AA, Arbatashara, RPG, MG, SMG.

00:24:38: Then I was trained how to make mine.

00:24:41: Over four months, he was drilled in combat tactics.

00:24:45: As he learned new skills and gains the approval of the group, what once felt wrong is normalizing.

00:24:52: He expands his knowledge in small and light weaponry in something even more deadly, explosives.

00:25:00: He was learning how to make and dismantle deadly traps, a process which he describes in a very technical, distanced

00:25:07: fashion.

00:25:10: and they want to pass.

00:25:12: If there is no person that knows how to quote it, then I will quote it.

00:25:20: If I remove the capsule, even I shoot it, it will not explode.

00:25:25: Then the capsule will have us to make another mind.

00:25:30: So that folder will have us to make more minds like that car, suicide bomb, jacket, suicide bomb.

00:25:39: and demand that you will place it on the ground.

00:25:43: Buber's description of assembling weapons and improvised mines can be hard to follow.

00:25:48: He tells us how he learned to defuse mines and even to further develop the material he collected for improvised explosive devices, IEDs, which are frequently used by Boko Haram.

00:26:01: Learning how to handle these wasn't just a skill, it was a turning point.

00:26:12: In the next section, we will hear how Bubba's life in the group revolved around healing injuries on the one hand and causing them on the other.

00:26:38: Bubba's education set him apart from other Bukoharam members.

00:26:42: He could read and write skills that quickly attracted the attention of his commanders.

00:26:48: But instead of books and classrooms, his next phase of learning took place on the battlefield.

00:26:54: In just one year, Buber went from being a student to the doctor.

00:27:00: However, his medical training was anything but conventional.

00:27:29: This was Buber's first introduction to surgery.

00:27:33: The trainees practiced stitching wounds on the bodies of slaughtered cattle.

00:27:38: The emphasis was clear, precision and focus were everything.

00:27:42: You will pay your attention like in terms of you are making mine.

00:27:48: If you are making mine with the bomb, you will pay your attention.

00:27:53: You will replace when you be quiet like this.

00:27:57: Everybody is doing his work.

00:27:59: No one can talk to him.

00:28:02: He's calling.

00:28:03: Everybody is doing like this.

00:28:05: You will pay your attention and do your work slowly, slowly.

00:28:11: If you say you will do it quickly, you will kill the

00:28:14: person.".

00:28:15: The same discipline required to make deadly explosives was now applied to saving lives.

00:28:21: This duality between destruction and healing defined Buber's role within the group.

00:28:27: When asked who was responsible for training him, Buber mentions a doctor from Karnu state, one of Nigeria's northern states, who would come to Bukoram's facility for one or two weeks leave.

00:28:40: in return after some time to continue with Buber's training.

00:28:44: He's a doctor from Karnoldstedt.

00:28:49: If he spends one or two months, he will go and spend one week, then he will come again.

00:28:55: Treating wounded fighters was a skill that blurred the lines between healers and fighters.

00:29:01: A line that was also crossed by medical professionals supporting the insurgency.

00:29:07: The activities of the group's doctors were not just improvisation on the battlefield.

00:29:12: It was an organized system where outside expertise strengthened Bukhawaram's ability to sustain its violence.

00:29:20: But the medical training had clear limits.

00:29:23: This wasn't a structured education.

00:29:26: It was survival medicine meant to keep fighters alive long enough to return to battle.

00:29:35: I was attaining more treatments.

00:29:42: Some treatment, if I see, I would scare.

00:29:45: Some treatment, if I see, I know that this person will not pass thirty minutes, will die.

00:29:53: So, I will not pay my attention to him because even if I treat him, will not survive.

00:30:03: So, I will pay my attention to the person that I know that if I treat him in time, will survive.

00:30:10: Sometimes you will see the injured patient, the hand, you will cut it or the leg will cut it.

00:30:19: The supplies Booba utilized to treat injured fighters, often originated from the same hospitals Boko Haram had raided.

00:30:26: Looted stocks repurposed to keep the insurgency alive.

00:30:31: We were an attack town.

00:30:33: We would divide into three or four.

00:30:43: For

00:30:44: years, Bukwaram's violent expansion seemed unstoppable.

00:30:49: But the attacks had consequences.

00:30:51: The group's large-scale attacks triggered harsh responses by security actors in the region who eventually gained the upper hand, but only after years of setbacks.

00:31:02: The military pressure helped in chasing Boko Haram from its former strongholds.

00:31:08: Boko Haram's biggest enemy, however, became itself.

00:31:12: In two thousand sixteen, a faction broke away to form ISWAP, the Islamic State West Africa province.

00:31:18: The split drained the group's resources and created internal rivalries.

00:31:24: Rivalries that also had massive impacts on the group's members.

00:31:28: For fighters like Buber, these struggles had real consequences.

00:31:32: Trust within the ranks eroded.

00:31:34: The promise of purpose and stability began to crumble also for Buba.

00:31:39: More and more fighters started leaving voluntarily and left Buba wondering about his own fate, insecure about what the future would hold for him.

00:31:51: After years of stitching wounds and inflicting injuries to others, Buba too began to question the cause of the insurgency and his presence in Bukwaram's camps.

00:32:03: Because of that, he starts contemplating leaving the group, a highly risky decision which could eventually cost him his life.

00:32:11: Now, let's listen to the hurdles Uber had to take on his way out.

00:32:21: Leaving Bukharam was not only dangerous, but almost impossible.

00:32:26: Apostasy was considered treason, and anyone who tried to escape faced almost certain death.

00:32:32: If you tell the person that I will grow up,

00:32:48: But staying was not an option for Buber.

00:32:51: He knew that he no longer had a future in the group.

00:32:54: So it was escape or death.

00:32:57: Buber was aware that he had to be careful if he wanted to make it out alive.

00:33:02: He couldn't just run away.

00:33:03: He had to disappear.

00:33:04: I started going, I started the time that I reached get three, that is the last get.

00:33:11: I passed the outlet, then I leave the road, just I enter bush.

00:33:16: Night come, I sleep in the morning, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going.

00:33:22: I know that now they will follow me.

00:33:26: I leave the bicycle, then again I change the road.

00:33:33: I go, I go, I go, I go.

00:33:36: Under the cover of the night, Buber made his move, terrified to be caught.

00:33:40: Every step he took away from Bukoram was a step into the unknown, a step towards his possible end.

00:33:47: It was a calculated risk, one that could mean freedom or death.

00:33:55: Finally, to his great relief, he reaches a military camp.

00:34:01: I come to the military camp from Bush, then they remove the bullet and shoot.

00:34:08: I remove my clothes.

00:34:09: I say, you see, they are smoking my body.

00:34:12: Then I wear my clothes.

00:34:13: They say, come sit.

00:34:15: They give me water.

00:34:17: I check water.

00:34:17: They bring bread for me.

00:34:18: I check.

00:34:20: OK.

00:34:21: They tell me, OK, enter.

00:34:24: I enter cell.

00:34:25: I sleep well because I checked long years that I didn't sleep like that.

00:34:35: Reaching the military camp, he stripped off his old identity.

00:34:39: He received water and bread.

00:34:41: He was out of danger.

00:34:43: Then, for the first time in years, he slept without fear.

00:34:47: But his journey was far from over.

00:34:59: Surrendering to the military didn't mean release.

00:35:02: It meant captivity of a different kind.

00:35:05: The soldiers took Bubain, and soon he was transferred to a maximum security prison, another cage, but one that offered a glimmer of hope for a future beyond Boko Haram.

00:35:33: Buber told us what his escape was like, but what happens to former fighters like him?

00:35:39: After years of violence, fear and the constant fight for survival, fighters face a difficult and uncertain future.

00:35:48: When someone like Buber decides to leave Bukoram, he doesn't simply get away.

00:35:53: The scars of war, both physical and psychological, remain in the stigma of being associated with such a brutal group.

00:36:02: often makes reintegration into society difficult.

00:36:07: In Nigeria, the government has launched a program called Operation Safe Corridor, which aims to provide a way out of violence for former insurgents.

00:36:17: The program offers religious reorientation, vocational training and reintegration support with the aim of enabling former fighters like Buber to return to civilian life.

00:36:28: However, this process is anything but easy.

00:36:32: Many former fighters like Buber are struggling with deep psychological trauma.

00:36:37: The stigma of having ones fought for Boko Haram remains, making it difficult for them to build a new life.

00:36:44: Trust between the people leaving the group and the communities they choose to live in is a challenge.

00:36:50: Buber's story is just one example of what happens when someone dares to leave the insurgency, what it takes to get out alive and what comes next when you are free.

00:37:02: In the next section, we hear from Buber about how he felt after returning to his community.

00:37:08: Fortunately, he was well received, which is not always the case.

00:37:17: Buber reflects on how he was received back in his community despite his past

00:37:22: actions.

00:37:25: He describes being welcomed with two hands, emphasizing the lack of discrimination or hostility upon his return.

00:37:34: Using a local proverb, he explains,

00:37:38: if you

00:37:39: are to commit a crime, it's better not to commit it at

00:37:41: home.

00:37:43: It's better to make tea than ice in one's own community.

00:37:47: The proverb reflects the idea that being part of the community, even after wrongdoing, allows for a certain level of acceptance and warmth compared to being an outsider.

00:37:58: The community welcomed him back, but inside, Buber carries the weight of regret and lost time, years that changed the entire trajectory of his future.

00:38:29: Secondly, I lose my education.

00:38:32: What I mobilize in my future, all I lose

00:38:36: there.".

00:38:37: Buber has moved between two worlds in his life.

00:38:40: While he was able to fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor in a world full of weapons, violence, and ideology, he lost everything in his old life.

00:38:50: Instead of helping him to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor, the insurgency did the opposite.

00:38:56: robbing him of any chance to pursue a medical career.

00:39:00: Regret and frustration are daily companions.

00:39:04: What if that fateful day he had not joined Umar?

00:39:07: What if he did not take the road to Zambeza Forest to join the fighters in the bush?

00:39:13: These are questions to which Bubba has no answer.

00:39:17: Even now, I want to be the doctor.

00:39:20: I want to get a certificate of doctor, but no way.

00:39:25: If I say now I will go to school, then no one will pay that, will take that responsibility of my school.

00:39:36: Because my father is not around now, has died.

00:39:41: I have my all, they are my junior brothers.

00:39:45: They are going to school.

00:39:46: I'm the one who is paying everything now.

00:39:49: I have already

00:39:50: used my

00:39:52: education and I'm looking the education to my junior brothers.

00:40:00: To be a good role model for his younger siblings and to give them what was taken from him, he is now the one who pays for his siblings' education.

00:40:10: He carries on with a sense of bitterness, but with the determination to ensure that the next generation doesn't suffer the same fate.

00:40:19: Buber now earns his living by selling fish and other goods at the market.

00:40:24: The echoes of his once unshaken aspiration to become a doctor still resonate, but the path that could have led him to that future are forever blocked by the time and opportunities that the insurgency stole from

00:40:43: him.

00:40:55: Deep inside his dream of becoming a doctor remains.

00:40:58: Buber is a person who is asked for help when people fall sick in the community.

00:41:11: Nevertheless, without any official training and certificate, this is not enough to make a living.

00:41:17: That's why Buber sticks to selling fish, which might enable him to give his siblings a better future one day, following his advice.

00:41:25: If I will give advice to anybody, first what I will tell them is hold and hear what your parents tell you.

00:41:38: Because what your parents giving you advice is the one that will help you in your life.

00:41:46: If you are peacefully with your parents, you will get everything easy in your life.

00:41:54: Buber's hands once meant to heal in hospital, no scale fish at the market.

00:42:00: Stitching wounds of Bukoharam members in Sanbisa Forest and elsewhere did not turn him into the man he aspired to be.

00:42:08: But perhaps nowadays there's a different kind of healing happening, one of reconciliation and rebuilding a life that was nearly lost to violence.

00:42:19: Buber is not alone facing the consequences of his actions and Bukoharam's reign.

00:42:24: Thousands of women and children did not have a choice and were brutally kidnapped, forced into a reality they never asked for.

00:42:33: In our next episode, we step into their stories.

00:42:36: Thank you for listening.