Thirteen ex-fighters of the Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JASDJ), popularly known as Boko Haram, have escaped with rifles and motorcycles given to them by the Borno State government, which co-opted them to join military operatives in the fight against the insurgents in the state.
“The 13 are among thousands of former Boko Haram fighters and their families who had surrendered to the government,” says an exclusive report by PREMIUM TIMES.
It notes that last year, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum revealed that more than 160,000 Boko Haram members and their families had voluntarily surrendered to the military amid a sustained military onslaught.
The “repentant” Boko Haram members and their families are being managed under the Borno Model, a post-conflict amnesty programme with a focus on deradicalisation, rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement of low-risk persons previously associated with armed insurgent groups, PREMIUM TIMES reports.
It quotes sources familiar with the programme as disclosing that nearly 6,000 combatants are awaiting “transitional justice.” The sources, according to the report, added that the Borno State Government further co-opted some of the ex-fighters into the fight against insurgency, helping the military to penetrate deep into the terrorists’ enclaves.
The military is said to provide the ex-fighters with sophisticated rifles, motorcycles, and ammunition for joint counterinsurgency operations. According to our sources, these weapons are always recovered from them after any operation.
“Unfortunately,13 of them attached to the military operatives in Mafa escaped from their camp between the 1st and 2nd of September, Malik Samuel, a researcher with a deep understanding of jihadi groups in northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region, told our reporter.
“Mr Samuel, a senior researcher with Good Governance Africa, said eight ex-fighters first escaped from the camp on 1 September before five others followed suit the next day.
“He said the escapees called Abdullahi Ishaq, a special adviser to the government on security matters, threatening to unleash more violence.
“After their escape, the jubilant terrorists released a video brandishing the rifles,” the report says.
Neither the Borno State Government nor the Nigerian military has commented on the development.
