The war against the dreaded Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP) is producing significant gain for the Nigerian Army as reasons have emerged why the defiant terrorists have started laying down their arms in droves.
The kinetic and non-kinetic window and the incentives that were introduced by both the Nigerian Army and Borno State government for the fighters to lay down their arms on one hand, and the intensive onslaught against the fighters, especially their commanders on the other hand; are some of the reasons the sects are forced to surrender.
Within the last one year and about two months, over 82,000 of the terrorists, their wives and children have surrendered to the Nigerian authorities. About 41,000 of them are women and children currently lodged in four rehabilitation camps within the state.
Meanwhile, the Theatre Commander of the North East joint task force, Operation Hadin Kai Major-general Christopher Musa has appealed to Nigerians to take ownership of the war against the terrorists to be able to free up the space for economic growth and development.
In a chart with this reporter yesterday in Maiduguri, General Musa said the infighting within Boko Haram that led to the creation of ISIS affiliated ISWAP and eventual death of Boko Haram leader, Shekau, opened some windows that enables the military to break into their ranks because Shekau was so such a strong figure on them. “He actually used fear to hold down these people (fighters),” he said.
Shekau capitalised on widespread poverty and bad leadership in the region to radicalise his followers, while he visited severe violence on people who refused to adopt their ideals.
Findings by LEADERSHIP indicated that the creation of a multinational joint task force along the Lake Chad belt also contributed to the heat the insurgents are currently submerged in. “So it’s either you surrender or you die,” General Musa said, adding that those who surrendered to the military are immediately handed over to the state government-led civil authorities for rehabilitation.
The authorities had assured the terrorists of their safety if they surrender and drop their guns. Against the initial fears, some of the repentant terrorists who spoke with our reporter at Hajj International Calm said they were encouraged to surrender to the military when they saw that some of them that realise surrendered their arms were free.
“We saw that nobody was tormenting them, nobody was threatening them,” one of the fiercest ex-Boko Haram commanders, Guru said.
A ranking military office in the theater said leaders of terrorists have realised that “look, we’re losing men and without men, even if you’re a commander you can’t fight.”
The state government has also added into it by offering a N200,000 reward for any terrorist that surrenders an AK47 riffle and any other weapons. “That has also encouraged a lot of them to come out with their weapons,” General Musa said.
“So, now they’re coming out with their wives and children and after that we have over 82,000 on foot and 41,000 children. So, they were growing a new generation of fighters and those ones were going to be more dangerous than their parents because you know for human nature exercise where a child grows or he believes that the natural thing to do so,” he added.
In Hajj camp alone, there are over 16,000 repentant terrorists and their family members.
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