THE Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said it has discovered a spiritual book, Guduma, suspected to be used by Boko Haram to hypnotise their victims.
Commandant of the NSCDC in Borno State, Ibrahim Abdullahi, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend.
Abdullahi said the book, written in Arabic, was discovered during an operation by men of the command at an abandoned house in Dikwa Local Government Area of the state.
“The book, named ‘Guduma’ was used by the insurgents as a powerful charm to indoctrinate followers into submitting to the dictates of leaders of the sect.
“Our findings revealed that the book was also used in deceiving victims and members of the sect into believing that it could make them invisible, and also offer protection against bullet shots and bombs.
The book was reportedly abandoned after the takeover of Dikwa from the insurgents, two years ago.
At the weekend, Boko Haram killed 40 people and wounded a dozen others in two separate incidents.
“They shot 27 persons and injured 12. About 300 houses were burnt,” Baba Shehu told reporters in Borno’s capital, Maiduguri, where Boko Haram was founded more than a decade ago.
“Immediately people saw the gunmen, they (locals) fled town but the insurgents opened fire on them in the process,” said Shehu and added that the wounded were receiving treatment at a local hospital. In a separate incident last Saturday, Shehu said 13 people travelling on a bus in the same area were ambushed by the (Islamist) militants and murdered in cold blood.
“The attackers took the travelers unawares … Some of the passengers escaped unhurt from the vehicle but were pursued by the insurgents and killed,” he added.
