Over 35,000 repentant Boko Haram ready for reintegration – Gov. Zulum

MGovernor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has said that over 35,000 repentant Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists are being disarmed for reintegration into communities.

Zulum declared this, yesterday, at an international conference, tagged ‘Lake Chad Basin: Key Steps towards Comprehensive Regional Solutions’ in Sussex, United Kingdom.

Addressing delegates from Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and development partners from the UK, he disclosed: “We’re navigating the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) processes in the state, amid ongoing kinetic efforts to fully reintegrate the repentant terrorists.”

The conference, hosted by the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, he noted, focuses on effectively managing the massive surrender of the terrorists through DDR.

Presenting the paper, he said the rate of defection and surrender by the terrorists, as well as liberated communities, were high with an average of 200 to 300 people a day.

“This requires immediate action to cater for the people in such a way that it will encourage further defections,” he said.

Warning against treating the repentant terrorists as prisoners of war, he stressed the need to protect those that surrendered, as their lives are in danger of being attacked by ISWAP.

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