Something fishy going on in Baga

Several months after Boko Haram insurgents took over control of Baga, a major fishing community in Borno State, surviving residents of the area fled the town and abandoned their trade, resulting in acute shortage of fish. So it raised eyebrows when fish suddenly began to be supplied from Baga. Daily Trust on Saturday reports.
Before the insurgency disrupted business activities in the North-East, Baga has been the major supplier of dry fish to most parts of the country and beyond with an average of seven trailers and lorries loading dried fish to different destinations daily.
Alhaji Mai Kalli, who fled Baga to Maiduguri following an attack and invasion of the town by insurgents, said, “Everybody that survived that attack fled Baga. No soul was left behind except the insurgents. Since then there has been no fishing activity in the area when we suddenly realized that fish is being supplied to the market from Baga.”
That set off red flags, indicating something fishy was going on in Baga. Mai Kalli said since only insurgents are in Baga, it means they are the ones fishing and bringing to the market in Maiduguri to sell. “The leaders of our association announced to us that government has said that we must not buy or sell any fish coming from Baga until we resume fishing activity there because fish was coming from the insurgents,” he said.
Mai Kalli told Daily Trust that the idea is to block all their chances of getting money, weapons and food supplies. “So, we complied. When you go round the whole of this market, you will not find a single fish supplied from Baga. In fact, should anybody bring fish from Baga now to our market, we will arrest and hand him over to the authorities,” he said.  
Alhaji Isa Nahuce was a major dry fish dealer in Baga when the situation was under control. He expressed doubt if fish business in Baga will ever go back to normal, adding, “In those days, when you go to Baga or when you come to the fish market along Baga Road here in Maiduguri you will meet fish merchants from all parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroun doing business. You find the fishermen going into the river early morning, bringing the fish out. You also find those that are smoking and drying the fish doing their job. Others will be bagging and selling to us. The trucks will be waiting to be loaded to different directions. I usually take my own to the Kado Fish Market in Abuja. When you look at the fish value chain, you find it interesting. At the end of every day, everyone within the value chain smiles back home with good money.”
Nahuce said: “All that is over now as majority of the fishermen and those doing fish business in Baga have been killed. The few that are still alive have fled. Baga is now a ghost town. But thank God, the fish business is picking up gradually. At least we can now see fish in carts. No fishing activity is going on in Baga for now, but we hope to resume as the situation keeps improving.”
Speaking on phone to Daily Trust, the Secretary of Fish Producers and Marketing Association in the state, Alhaji Muazu Isa Madu, confirmed that since the invasion of Baga by insurgents, fishermen fled the area. “It is also true that government asked us to warn our members from buying fish coming from Baga as that could come from insurgents as no fishing activity is going on there now. We were told that the military has taken over control of the area. If that is confirmed and the military or government asks us to go back, we are ready to resume our fishing activity there.”
Madu says at the moment the fish is supplied from Sudan, Chad and Cameroun through Adamawa State, as all the routes to Cameroun and Chad from the state are closed. “The supply is grossly inadequate and the little you can see is expensive,” he said.
“Even before the insurgency, we were getting dry fish supply from Sudan, Chad and Cameroun. Together with the one we fish locally in Baga, to try to supply to the entire country. Now, any fish you see in our market or supplied to other states comes from the three countries I mentioned,” Madu said.
Madu assured that fish dealers in the state will do everything they can to ensure that, despite the ongoing insurgency, high quality fish is supplied to Nigerian markets. He said though fish dealers in the state have not been able to meet up with the general demand for fish in the country, “Fish business is fast appreciating. I am very optimistic that very soon we shall resume full business at Baga and here in Maiduguri.”