About 95 Boko
Haram members who have surrenderd their weapons are participating in a government program to
de-radicalize the former fighters and assimilate them into society.
The program is part of
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s outreach to those who used to belong to
the militant group, which has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more
than 2 million others in Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon and Niger.
One of the
participants, Usman explained to the rehabilitation officers that Boko
Haram forced him to join in 2015 as he was working on his farm in Borno
state, the center of Boko Haram activities in northeastern Nigeria.
As the narrative goes, Boko
Haram launched a deadly campaign of bombings, abductions and killings in
2009 to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state in this West
African country.
In 2014, the terrorist group claimed responsibility for abducting 276 girls
from a school in Chibok, prompting international outrage and a global social media campaign called #BringBackOurGirls. Some of the
girls escaped or were later released, but more than 100 are still missing. The
group also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
After Buhari's election
two years ago on a pledge to eradicate Boko Haram, his
military pushed the militants out of their base and
forced them on the run. Boko Haram commander Auwal Ismaela, who
played a major role in the Chibok abduction, recently surrendered and confessed
to several attacks and other useful information about the group.
Even so, Boko
Haram has killed 400 people since April, according to a recent Amnesty
International report.
Many Nigerians believe
most fighters joined under duress. As a result, the government decided to help
those who leave the group.
“The federal government
has made arrangements for the re-integration of all surrendered insurgents,”
said Maj. Gen. Bamidele Shafa, who is coordinating the program at a camp near
Gombe.
“This is a clarion call
and a corridor of opportunity to remaining insurgents that are still in the
bush to heed,” Shafa said.
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| Surrendered Boko Haram Islamic militants are loaded onto an aircraft by the Nigerian military to be taken to a rehabilitation centre in Gombe where they reportedly are to begin a de-radicalization process, in Maiduguri, Nigeria onJuly 8, 2017. According to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai about 700 Boko Haram insurgents around the fringes of Sambisa Forest in Borno have surrendered. (Photo credit: Usuf Osman, European Pressphoto Agency |
For Adamu Umaru, 47,
who joined two years ago, the rehabilitation program was
heaven compared to a Boko Haram location in Jibiya, where more than
2,000 abducted men and women were held hostage.
“We were escaping from
the attack on Gwoza” in Borno state, Umaru told officers at the government-run
facility. “We took refuge on the hills, but Boko Haram surrounded us and took
us to Jibiya. I joined the group while at the camp.”
The officers first
grill ex-fighters like Usman to learn vital information about the group’s
activities. Then they begin the rehabilitation process, which includes
counseling and vocational classes in tailoring, farming, auto repair and other
skills. The aim is to allow them to earn enough so they're not tempted to
go back to Boko Haram.
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| Surrendered Boko Haram Islamic militants receive breakfast before being loaded onto an aircraft by the Nigerian military prior to be taken to a rehabilitation centre in Gombe. (Photo: Usuf Osman, European Pressphoto Agency) |
Civil rights activist
Tukur Musa Tilde believes the program is a good step toward healing
in northeastern Nigeria. “The program will offer them another opportunity
to turn a new leaf and contribute to national growth," Tilde said.
But editorial writers
at Punch, a
popular local newspaper, recently questioned the rehabilitation program.
“Should terrorists who
have shed blood and massacred thousands of people re-enter the society under
the guise of de-radicalization?” the Lagos-based newspaper asked. “What of
their victims, and the innumerable widows and orphans they have created?”
The rehabilitation
efforts are a start, said Sesugh Akume, a spokesman for
#BringBackOurGirls. “We fully endorse it,” he said. “Recall that some
Boko Haram members were forcefully recruited against their wish.”
After a round of
questioning, Usman grabbed a plastic plate and chilled water, then joined
other former militants on wooden benches for lunch.
“It is a different
experience," Usman said. "We look forward to becoming better
citizens.”
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