Army: 146 Boko Haram insurgents have surrendered

No fewer than 146 suspected Boko Haram insurgents have surrendered their arms at various military formations in the north-east.

Roger Nicholas, commander of operation Lafiya Dole, disclosed this to journalists while parading 17 suspects who recently renounced their membership at the military command in Maiduguri, Borno state capital.

“Seventy of them had surrendered in Munguno, 60 in Bama, while this set of 17 just willingly surrendered to our troops,” the commander said.

Nicholas said the amnesty opportunity provided in operation Safe Corridor was already yielding a positive result. He said the army had established designated centres at various commands and formation where the insurgents can come out and surrender.

He further disclosed that the 17 insurgents had testified that they were no longer interested in the fight, hence, renouncing their membership to accept meaningful reintegration.

One of the suspects, Mustapha Umar, told TheCable that he was tired of the attrocities they were forced to commit.

“I’m a commander at the lake area. My operation was mainly on water. My regret was the number of persons I have killed and take their money,” Umar said.

In 2016, the defence headquarters had established rehabilitation camps as part of operation Safe Corridor in line with the federal government’s commitment to rehabilitate and reintegrate surrendered and repentant Boko Haram insurgents.