Borno residents reject repented Boko Haram members, tells FG to relocate them to Aso Rock

Borno State residents have urged the Federal government to relocate repented Boko Haram members to Aso rock or the state government house.

601 ex-Boko Haram combatants graduate in Gombe  on 25July, 2020

 Residents kicked against the reintegration of repentant Boko Haram members into the communities, saying that it will cause more depression to families of victims of their past attacks.

One of the residents who spoke to  TheCable said, “From day one, Maiduguri people have never liked the idea of reintegrating the terrorists back to the community,” one of the residents said.

“The reason is simple. It means they are likely to come in contact with people who slaughtered members of their family and friends in their presence and they are expected not to think about it?

“They are expected to agree for these people to be with them in society? How do you expect us to live with the killers of our parents? Those who attacked us and burnt down our houses?”

Shettima Mustapha, another resident who took to Facebook, said one of the ex-Boko Haram members was brought into a community where one of the recently killed humanitarian workers came from.

 

“Today, we woke up to the news that one notorious Boko Haram member,  popularly known as Mallam Yawu, came back to Shehuri South community. Reportedly, he came back with some papers believed to be government clearance papers, possibly, from those responsible for reintegration of repentant Boko Haram members,” Mustapha wrote.

 

 “The reaction of the people of that community was as expected — a total rejection and condemnation of the authorities who released him back to the community.

 

“From what we are learning, he is either taken away by security operatives or CJTF, perhaps, looking at the pulse of the general public about his sudden reappearance.

 

“And don’t forget, only yesterday, a video of the gruesome murder of the humanitarian aid workers was released by the BHT. One of those killed, Abdurahman Bulama, was from the same Shehuri South community where this terrorist is being planned to be reintegrated. The same sad story is true of almost every community in Borno State.”

The military had in 2016 launched Operation Safe Corridor, an initiative for the deradicalisation and rehabilitation of ex-Boko Haram members.

 

The aim of the operation, the military had also said, is to reintegrate repentant Boko Haram members  into society.

In July, 2020, 602 ex-Boko Haram members were said to have completed a de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration (DRR) programme.