Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 118
disempowerment by Gwoza. The originally well-meant attempt of the British to engage the
montagnards into self-governance appears to have turned sour in the whole process.
The killing of lawan Buba - or the 'Gwoza Affair'
In the following, we will compare two versions of events. One is the official report of the
British about the incident, and the other consists of an eyewitness account by wahili Taɗa
Nzige of Ghwa’a from 2005, who in 1953 was one of the bulamas of Ghwa’a.
We begin with the British documentation of what is known as the 'Gwoza Affair'10, which
consists of a whole range of reports and letters which I will summarise and quote as to how
the whole affair was perceived, documented, and dealt with. The incident happened on
Saturday the 10th of October 1953, and the divisional officer in Bama, Mr McClintock,
reported two days later to the resident of Borno what he was told by the touring officer, Mr
Rounthwaite:
It appears that four men of Johode [Ghwa’a] village, the highest village south [southeast] of
Gwoza, were recruited for the Resettlement scheme, and duly went into Gwoza and were each
given a gown by the District Head as a token of recruitment. They returned to Johode and nothing
more was heard of them. In consequence, two respected persons: Lawan Buba (one time Village
Head of Gwoza, and now an unsalaried but respected representative of the District Head) and
Baraya, official Messenger of the District Head to the clan to which Johode belongs, were sent by
the District Head to Johode to make inquiries. They found one of the men, and were looking for
the others when they were attacked and stoned by a crowd of two hundred. When the stoning
became very severe they retreated from the Rest House where they had taken refuge, and Lawan
Buba ran into a house beside the road; Baraya was trapped outside the house by the crowd who
continued to stone him. Baraya however had a gun with him as he had heard that feeling was high
in Johode; he does not always take this gun with him but has done so previously without
troublesome results; he now fired this gun and escaped through the parting in the crowd which this
caused. He was chased for some way and the crowd then returned to the house where Lawan Buba
had taken refuge, and began to pull it down. Lawan Buba then, with some dignity, came outside
covered with cuts and stabs, and was promptly done to death.
This first report goes on to describe that the trouble started when the prospected settlers
returned to Ghwa’a with their gowns and were subsequently forced to surrender these gowns
by threats from their people, and then declared that they would not join the resettlement
scheme. The report also indicates that other villages had joined Ghwa’a, though only those of
the same clan, and that they were trying to get arrow poison from the Mafa to prepare for the
arrival of law and order. Mr McClintock points out that the attack was jeopardising the
resettlement scheme since the trouble had risen directly from the refusal to join due to
'opposition of the bulk of their clansmen', and that it was important not to 'allow this attitude
to pass unnoticed' in order to safeguard the future success of the scheme. Mr McClintock,
therefore, planned to visit Ghwa’a himself to find out more. He planned to approach with a
police escort from Kwalika, while another officer would block a possible escape to 'French
territory' in the east.
The events unfolding now are detailed in the inquiry report of the disturbances a couple of
months later, in late January 1954, which I will summarise and quote if necessary. The
inquiry was conducted for fifteen days during November/December, during which evidence
was also heard in Ghwa’a, where about half of the male population chose three responsible
persons among them to submit reasons why the village as a whole got involved. The report
consists of 25 pages, including a sketch map of the Gwoza hills. One can see from the report
that the British authorities took the killing of lawan Buba very seriously and were trying to be
as objective as possible.
10
See Kaduna National Archives, reference: MaidProf-1538, vol. II
116
