Umar Ibrahim, one of the commanders of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram has said they were told not to surrender as the Nigerian Army will kill and feed on their flesh when they did so.
He said this as when he and other members of the Islamic sect who surrendered to the military were being presented in Maiduguri on April 20.
Umar, who surrendered voluntarily, said he had become fed up with the group’s inhuman activities.
He also disclosed that hundreds of insurgents were willing to surrender to the troops but their leaders prevented them from doing so.
“We were told that the army will kill us and feed on our flesh when we surrender. The sect’s leaders also planted landmines to stop us from coming to the troops. Many insurgents are willing to surrender in view of the fact that we are against the destructive ideologies propagated by the sect. We hardly feed, people are starving due to the lack of food in the camp. We want peace and we want to join in building peace in our country, we ask Nigerians to forgive us,” said Umar.
Meanwhile Maj.-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, has announced that two Boko Haram commanders and the Islamic sect’s doctor have surrendered to Nigerian Army.
Maj.-Gen Nicholas also said a woman leader of the insurgents’ group and three children also surrendered to the troops at Kumshe in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.
He pointed out that the insurgents voluntarily surrendered, noting that the move was acceptable under the Safe Corridor Scheme initiated by Federal Government to encourage the insurgents to lay down their arms.
The theatre commander explained that this was a result of the contact initiated by the military with the insurgents to encourage them to surrender. He also added that more insurgents had indicated their interest to lay down their arms.
He said, “we had a contact group and two insurgents’ commanders, a local doctor and their women leader and their children surrendered to the troops. We gave them clothes, food, and medication and assured them of safety: we are not killing anybody. Our duty is to protect lives and property, we call on the insurgents in the bush to come out, surrender and join the peacebuilding process.”
He also stated that the surrendered insurgents would be engaged in de-radicalization, rehabilitation and skill acquisition training programme for possible integration into the society.
Ali Musa, the insurgents’ physician who also surrendered to the Nigerian Army, said he conducted surgical operations such as bullet extraction, appendix, treatment of wounded insurgents, antenatal and post-natal services in the camp. Ali said he was indoctrinated and misled by the sect leaders, adding that the sect activities had damaged his life.