The Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum says so far 2600 insurgents have surrendered and are under the care of the state government.
The Governor made the disclosure on Tuesday, while addressing State House Correspondents, soon after he met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Governor, who said he was in the seat of power to seek for more support, told Journalists that the repentant terrorists were already being properly profiled and the innocent ones among them would be immediately resettled.
He said: “Right now, we have about 2, 600 in our custody but mind you, this number is inclusive of their children and their wives including their families. Among these people that have surrendered, some are innocent.
“We have started profiling them with the Nigerian Army and the Directorate of State Services (DSS), so that those that have not committed a heinous crime, especially the teenagers and women, then we can find an immediate way of resettling them back. Those that are deeply involved also we shall look into the possibility of training them so that at a later stage, the Nigerian and the state government will decide to keep them, to address the issue holistically. But the good news is that the Nigerian Army is providing enough support to us; we are getting enough cooperation from the Nigerian Army, DSS and the Nigerian Police and we thank God for the President.”
Governor Zulum said the massive surrender by insurgents was a good omen for him and all citizens of Borno State because a lot has been lost in the past 12 years, due to insurgency.
“I came to brief the President over the ongoing surrender by insurgents. I think to me and the greater majority of the people of Borno State, this is a very good development because in the last 12 years, thousands of lives were lost and people completely lost their means of livelihood.
“We harvested a total number of over 50, 000 orphans and widows. These are official figures and the unofficial figures are more than this and we were able to cultivate not more than three percent of our total arable land because of the insurgents and right now, the whereabouts of not less than 10 percent of people of Borno State is not known to all of us at all.
“This is a very serious matter and the report of the surrender of the insurgents is a very welcomed development. Unless we want to continue with an endless war, I see no reason why we should reject those that are willing to surrender,” he explained.
“The President has given me and the people of Borno State the assurances of his continuous support in this direction so that his matter can be resolved amicably,” the Governor stated.
According to him, consultations are on to develop a framework that will ensure that the insurgency in the North-East is completely brought to an end.
He said: “Deepening internal democracy and social cohesion is the prelude to sustainable peace in any nation therefore, we are not unaware of the negative effects of this programme and that is why we want to see the involvement of the federal government in a large scale.
“The way forward is that we shall immediately hold a stakeholders meeting in Borno state, comprising the Ministries of Defence, Interior, humanitarian Affairs, the Attorney General and most importantly the National Intelligence Agency also because we have some foreign involvement in the matter.
“We will also involve the traditional rulers and especially the victims so that we can come up with resolutions and far reaching recommendations that can be programmed in a structured manner. The recommendations shall also be forwarded to the President.”
The Borno State Governor described the current surrender and resettling of the repentant insurgents as a humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed without delay.
President Buhari assured him that the needed support would be given.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
