His physique could hardly fit into the temperament of his persuasion. He is frail, he talks slowly and you would have no qualms passing him off as one naïve, harmless young man.
But Nasir Isiaku, 27, used to have zealous hatred for Christians. He talked of himself as an Islamic warrior who delighted in chopping off people's heads with a stroke of his dagger.
However, all of that was, according to him, up until he made a turnaround in a most dramatic way...
Nasir Isiaku is from Gusau in Zamfara State. He said, while still in the group, he killed many Christians when he reigned as second-in-command to a terrorist group that wages war against non-Muslims in northern Nigeria. The group, Shitte, is a Boko Haram franchise.
"Our own group is called Shitte but we have the same agenda with the Boko Haram sect. You people have only been hearing of Boko Haram, but there are other deadly Islamic groups who are also part of Boko Haram sect," he said, adding: "Whenever we heard that any of the sects was fighting Christians, we always joined them."
He was speaking to a gathering of Christians recently of his activities as a member of the terror group. He also told of how he renounced what he called 'the cult' where he had to drink his victims' blood so their ghosts would not appear to him in dreams.
This is Isiaku's testimony as he told it himself...
"I joined the Bafarawa Arabic Islamic Centre in 2010 and they were teaching us Arabic language. Every year, we take about 20 people to Iran for special training because our zonal headquarters is in Iran. Our own group is called Shitte but we have the same agenda with the Boko Haram sect.
You people have only been hearing of Boko Haram, but there are other deadly Islamic groups that are also part of Boko Haram sect. I can count up to six of them that I'm very much aware of.
Whenever we heard that any of the sects was fighting Christians, we always joined them. My own group has been an Islamic movement for a long time, even before I was born. It reigned in the north during the Abacha military regime and it has many branches in the north. We are in major northern states such as Kastina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Zaria among others.
"Sometimes, when we want to wreak havoc on Christians, we hire our own bus because we have our own weapons, which we use against the Christians. We usually join the Boko Haram sect whenever they wanted to fight the Christians or the soldiers because we usually hear that soldiers kill our Boko Haram brothers in Maiduguri, Yobe and Potiskum.
"I used to be one of the most trusted hands in the group because I was a very obedient and loyal follower. I had my own secret office where I received delegates from our sponsors whenever our leader wasn't around and where I attend to the needs of any of our members.
"This is why I didn't participate in many of our attacks against the Christians or the soldiers because I used to take care of the home front. Our leaders usually psyched us up, they brainwashed us to fight against Christians because they are enemies of Allah. They taught us that the more Christians we were able to kill, the more our chances of entering Alijonan (heaven).
