5,000 Out of 100,000 repentant Boko Haram are Insurgents– Commissioner Confirms

Only about 5,000 of the more than 100,000 repentant Boko Haram members, according to Borno State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, were actual insurgents.

Gambo announced this in Maiduguri when she gave a paper titled “Borno Model” at a celebration of the 2023 International Day of Peace organized by the non-governmental organization Peace Ambassador for Humanitarian Aid and Empowerment (PACHE).

Contrary to public expectations that 100,000 were insurgents, only about 5,000 are active combatants. Farmers, women, and kids make up the majority of the other captives, which are held by the rebels.

Many of them are captive victims being held by the rebels, she claimed.

She pointed out that the insurgents were not among those being deradicalized and reintegrated back into their communities.

The rebels are not released by us. Every person who has been released has a record of their whereabouts, according to Gambo.

Before anyone was freed and allowed to reintegrate back into his community, she said, he had to go through a three-week intensive training on human rights from security and religious leaders, and his community had to be properly contacted to support their return.

The commissioner appealed to the international community for assistance so that the government could succeed in establishing long-lasting peace in the state.

According to NAN, for more than ten years, counter-insurgency operations and humanitarian crises have been handled using the “Borno Model,” a non-kinetic strategy. (NAN).