Borno State Government Defend ‘Repentant Terrorists’ Says They Can’t Go Back To Killing Because They Swore By Quran

The Borno State government has defended the 160,000 repentant Boko Haram insurgents.

The state government says the terrorist can’t return to killings because they swore to an oath with the Quran.

The state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zuwaira Gambo, whose ministry oversees the affairs of the ex-combatants and rescued captives, on Wednesday, noted that of the 160,000 repentant insurgents, 70,000 had been resettled and reintegrated into their communities.

Gambo stressed that having sworn by the Quran the ex-terrorists would never return to the bush to rejoin Boko Haram. She spoke at the public presentation of survivors, victims and deradicalised women of Boko Haram by the UKAID-assisted Maiduguri-based non-governmental organisation, Allamin Foundation.

The commissioner assuaged growing public fears that the resurgence of t+rror in the North-East was being caused by the repentant terrorists reneging on their repentance and trooping back to the bush to pick up arms against the Nigerian state. She said, “It is completely untrue that the repentant Boko Haram fighters are reneging on their repentance and returning to the bush to continue fighting.

Out of the over 160,000 who repented, we have already reintegrated over 70,000 in their home communities, and I can assure you that no one will be missing should we decide to gather all of them for anyone to confirm. We operate a transparent process of their repentance.”