this one's the old mathematics lab you
can see this is where the students used
to stay and study still says mathematics
and ratio on the board you can see this
this whole place is bombed out I just
look up pull out on with this I used to
smoke so formerly this what appears to
be abandoned building was the departure
lounge of the Mata Guri airport before
Boko Haram seized this town and
basically no civilian flights have gone
out of here in two years now it's become
the ammo supply point the logistical hub
for the Nigerian Army and they're
actually going to make their departure
from here into the areas that are still
controlled by Boko Haram I had the
opportunity to sit down with private
Jeremiah Friday who's stationed at the
de facto staging base at the mutter Guri
Airport Jerry as his squad mates column
is a proud Ranger in the 72nd paratroop
unit based out of mikuni in Bannu state
along with 300 of his fellow soldiers
he's preparing for war gen how do you
feel about the effort against Boko Haram
do you think this is important yeah we
need to come you turn instead to the
peaks because in a sense I've been dying
I've been killing the innocent
so people have run away from their homes
make them homeless those are in school
the media run away from school the
business no business go anymore you feel
good about going after poking around
yeah I want to fight for my country and
for die for my country I know I
definitely I can tree when the book one
started they were like burning churches
so people thought they were Muslims why
these people the fact the Christian
effect the Muslim so nobody know about
them we believe that I just got Davos
they don't have heart - yeah no
Christine to me and I mostly and here in
your unit you have muslims and
christians right we love each other the
muslim pre the Christian sit around
watch their must-buy Budi Budi no
problem the Muslim and Christian we're
all good who our friends brought us we
pray together the Muslim go too much
Christine go to church for prayer finish
or come back to muster parade
everybody's fine
I saw you doing the bench press the
other wah ha ha gotcha train right yeah
if no you ready train hard fight easy
yeah I believe when I train harder fight
easy and we trade hard you read list or
in the wartime while private Friday's
platoon was preparing for an offensive
we got word that a Nigerian outpost was
attacked by Boko Haram and there were
two wounded soldiers who needed medevac
we hopped a ride to join one forward
unit tasked with defending the frontline
in the city of kannada their location
was 35 kilometers from my degree at the
very edge of the conflict where no
journalist had previously been allowed
so the men of the hundred and third
battalion have been deployed here for
almost a year they come from all over
Nigeria this particular firebase it's
basically loaded with ammunition and
weapons you can see even here behind me
this is where somebody sleeps among
these ammo containers and that's because
this is the very front line of the fight
against Boko Haram this particular
firebase has been attacked 13 times most
recently just last week but the guys who
are very proud of the fact that this
village has never been overrun since
they've been deployed here and they've
suffered only a single combat loss and
that's when one of their fellow soldiers
who was shot in the head and killed by a
sniper right over the wall
let them come if they come now you go Oh
Dada Dada Dada Dada Dada yeah ox who
kicked our ass
them I have my commando knife I
slaughter poke around with this
I used to slaughter them with this when
I get them I slaughter them the
formation that they're using the push
into Boko Haram territory is an
arrowhead formation so the rest of the
forces flank out in this direction and
at the very tip is this t-72 tank and
these trenches these you know four-foot
deep trenches that are dug behind me
and why is this place significant
because um as I used to say I have a
small sketch I used to discuss with
people about in this place is captured
Boko Haram who have is asses to me
degree so this place is very vital
because it's an ass's from the sambisa
forest just to the south not far away
from here
executed six kilometers away from here
is a sample so first and we know since
the Nigerian Army has been on the
offensive that they've been fleeing to
the sambisa forest rice yes and they
take refuge in there yes and then they
come out and they try and approach this
area yes one thing that I noticed about
observing your unit is that you don't
have you have staff officers but your
staff officers are in the trench also
yes there's nobody back at headquarters
yes it's your the Intel officer and this
is your trench right of course now
everybody is trained infantry officer
and everybody's deployed in the field as
frost primarily as a soldier yeah this
is your office in many ways you have a
tent over there where you keep your
things yes but primarily you sleep and
you live here so you sleep right here
put my combat here sleep here yeah and
why is that yes here you don't sleep far
away from your trench because the spook
could crow when the crow they come close
to your trench and begin to engage you
so you have to be close enough there is
a biggest sentry there that observes
that tivities of the night yeah those
ones do not sleep absolutely have to oh
shoot after 12 hours and represent comes
in but you have to be here so that once
you here in fire you - in and then you
return fire when this fire base gets
attacked by Boko Haram everybody comes
and jumps in this trench and starts
firing back you can see they basically
shot the out of that series of
buildings that the Boko guys have been
attacking from and if you look at this
berm right here it's just littered with
shell casings
captain mashella was another soldier who
had a special relationship to Mata Guri
it happens to be my state
so I'm talking to my parents I maybe we
they have been displaced from my own
village
shafa so what do you expect me to do I
just have to do this given if I'm here
even if I'm not here if I am asked will
you come here voluntarily
I'll come because my family is a medley
and they attack from the school yeah
that's why it's all shut up so that was
a school right I'll just be how do you
do you ever think about like oh my god
we're shooting at a school you don't
think of that one
because you only think of what the
elderly can do and you don't allow them
to get you yeah because once you allow
them to over on you then things will get
worse over 20 different attacks and I
believe over 1000 bottoms the idea
you've killed over a thousand per car
around here different attacks yeah
that's incredible
yeah we will protect wherever we are
deployed with our lives here every
soldier is ready to die defending this
ground yeah I'm here we live we are one
family here
while the hundred and third is at the
tip of the sphere they're supported by
more forces camped out at a former
school a thousand metres behind the
frontline so basically this is the old
Kunta girls Elementary School it's now
being occupied and used as the brigade
headquarters for the army
do you have soldiers sleeping in
classrooms the old principal's office is
now the Operations Office so this used
to be the guidance counselor building
now it's a Depot for ammunition RPG
rounds laying around so this one's the
old mathematics lab you can see this is
where the students used to stay and
study still says mathematics and ratio
on the board you can see this this whole
place is just bombed out to schools that
used to be places of learning and
education had now become graveyards
this morning starts the invasion of
Bhama so I'm going to be in one of the
attack helicopter