Islamists fighting
for Boko Haram are leaving their forest hiding places after a number of senior
militants died as a result of relentless attacks by snakes and bees, it has
been claimed.
Two suspected Boko
Haram gunmen arrested in Maiduguri in north eastern Nigeria claimed that
members of the group have now fled the Sambisa Forest, close to the border with
Cameroon, following 'incessant snake bites' and bee stings.
Nigeria's army have
been trying to flush the militants out the area for months, but it appears they
are now leaving voluntarily in the belief the attacks are the spirits of their
victims haunting them.
Kolo Mustapha, one
of the arrested men told Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper: 'Most of us are fleeing because
there are too many snakes and bees now in the forest. Once they bite, they
disappear and the victims do not last for 24 hours.'
He claimed that the snakes
attack the militants first, before dozens of bees surround the injured men and
lead a second attack.
Many of the Boko
Haram members are now of the belief that there is a supernatural aspect to the
attacks, thinking the snakes and bees may be the spirits of their victims
returning to haunt them.
Mustapha said he was
only caught by a band of local volunteers because he was taking extra risks to
flee the forest in a hurry, such was his belief in the mystical nature of the
attacks.
He added that other
senior figures in his cell fled south east towards Cameroon - forcing young men
in the remote villages they pass through to join them.
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