Nigerian Army hands over 151 repentant Boko Haram members to Borno government

The government of Borno state receives a total of 151 repentant Boko Haram members who are said to have left the group.

Major-General Bamidele Shafa, coordinator of the Operation Safe Corridor, says the repentant members have undergone special rehabilitation.

Deputy governor of Borno, Umar Kadafur, while receiving the former insurgents, commends the federal government for initiating the programme to rehabilitate them.

The Nigerian Army on Monday, July 22, handed over 151 repentant Boko Haram members to the government of Borno state for rehabilitation and re-integration into the society.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Major-General Bamidele Shafa, coordinator of the Operation Safe Corridor, disclosed this during the handing over of the repentant insurgents at the Bulunkutu rehabilitation centre, Maiduguri.

According to Shafa, the 151 male repentant insurgents comprise 132 adults and 19 younger members, who completed 52 weeks of de-radicalisation process at its centre in Gombe.

The coordinator said that the repentant sect members were exposed to formal literacy classes, skills acquisition and Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) as well as drug and psycho-therapists during their training. He further explained that the Operation Safe Corridor was designed to encourage Boko Haram insurgents to surrender, provide de-radicalization and rehabilitation programme to enable them rejoin the society.

“The clients confessed their past misdeeds; denounced membership of Boko Haram group, asked for forgiveness and took oath of allegiance to Nigeria. I believe they are now good citizens to rejoin the society,” he said while commending the state government over its support and efforts to assist the repentant insurgents to reintegrate into the society.

The deputy governor of Borno, Umar Kadafur, commended the federal government for establishing the Operation Safe Corridor to rehabilitate and reintegrate repentant insurgents into the society. Kadafur explained that thestate government had adopted effective measures to accept the insurgents willing to voluntarily surrender and to create an enabling environment for them to rejoin the society.