Soldiers protest the release of the so-called “repentant” Boko Haram members

Obinwannem News Soldiers protest the release of the so-called "repentant" Boko Haram members

Soldiers of the Nigerian Army stationed in the Northeastern parts of the country are protesting the release of captured Boko haram members by the government.

Following the announcement on Monday by the commissioner of information in Borno state, Babakura Jato, that some 1,400 members of the killer group Boko haram had been released, some soldiers registered their disagreement with the move in what they believe is a devastating blow to the current struggle to end the violence and savagery going on in these areas for years.

The federal government is persistent the release as part of the “Operation Safe Corridor” program satisfies the purpose of de-radicalizing and re-integrating “repentant” members of insurgent groups back into the communities as is evident in the announcement by the commissioner Jato.

“There have been a series of releases. They were released in three tranches. The first set was released during Governor Shettima’s time while two sets have been released under Prof. Zulum. “The total number of persons released is 1,400. Out of the 1,400, the majority of them are cleared, suspects.

These were people who were suspected of being members of Boko Haram and it was discovered that they were not.

“The rest are children of Boko Haram or actual Boko Haram members. I cannot give you a breakdown of the figure now for security reasons,”

Some soldiers who spoke to The Cable on Tuesday expressed shock and disappointment at the news. “A lot of soldiers are not happy about this. We were there at the Maimalari barracks when some of these Boko Haram people were released,” one of the soldiers said.

“The authorities are releasing them, but Boko Haram is killing soldiers that they capture. This does not make sense to us at all. We continue to sweep across the bushes to flush these people out, and then the government will release them. Does that not amount to wasted efforts?”

Some soldiers say most of the released members are not repentant and always find their way back to the Boko Haram camps. “You wonder why Boko Haram members are on the increase? When we arrest them and bring them here, some top people would come and start negotiating their release. But, I will tell you some of these so-called suspects are returning to the bush and they were never repentant.”

The defence headquarters has since denied the claims in a statement by the spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu; “We’ve made some releases, that’s the truth. We should know what the operation is about. But take note, it’s not that we capture Boko Haram suspects and then go back and release them. No,” he said.

“The civil organizations involved in the operation include UNICEF, International Office on Migration (IOM) and relevant government ministries and security agencies. Not left out of the oversight structure of the operation is the Gombe state govt where the DRR facility is located.

“As a testimony to the effectiveness of the Safe Corridor initiative, so far, about 800 ex Boko Haram fighters who would have unleashed unimaginable terror on citizens have been admitted and out of which 287 of them have been successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, with many still undergoing the DRR program,” he said.

Vladimir Chimaobi reporting, Obinwannem News

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