Seventy-three more members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), commonly referred to as Boko Haram, surrendered to a vigilante group in the headquarters of the Damboa Local Government Area on Monday, September 27.
Mustapha Bashir, a resident and member of the Damboa Vigilante Group, confirmed that the 73 JAS members, including their families, had surrendered and told RNI reporter Alkali Mustapha that they had given themselves up peacefully and there had been no reason to use force.
“Among them were women, children and even the elderly.”
They told Bashir that they were surrendering because they wanted the violent conflict to end so that everyone could live peacefully without fearing that they would be attacked at any time.
Bashir said he was not surprised by the surrender because the vigilante group had been informed by a repentant insurgent earlier this month that many more members wanted to give themselves up to the military.
“We heard in the morning that they were coming. We gathered and waited for them to come to the entrance of the local government and welcomed them all.”
Bashir said the vigilantes had taken the insurgents into their offices and told them that they would be taken care of until they were handed over to the military.
Bashir said they would be given food and drink until the handover.
“They will not spend a day hungry or thirsty in our offices and under our care. We have engaged a group of women to cook for them. Most of them were starving when they arrived.”
He said even some of the residents of Damboa had welcomed the surrendered insurgents and their families.
“All that every person wants is for there to be peace. After years of conflict peace is what we pray for. Once that’s restored, we will all be able to coexist in harmony,” Bashir said.
“If the insurgents are sincerely repentant and have chosen peace over violence, we are ready to welcome them back into our communities.”
On September 10, 13 insurgents surrendered themselves to the same Damboa Vigilante Group.
They told the vigilantes that they wanted to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into their community. They had decided to surrender, in the hope that the government would fulfil its promise to treat them well and not to torture them.
On September 2, the Nigerian armed forces said that close to 6,000 fighters from the JAS insurgent group in northeast Nigeria had surrendered.
Brigadier General Bernard Onyeuko, spokesman for the armed forces, said at the time: “Within the past few weeks, more than 5,890 terrorists comprising foot soldiers and their commanders have surrendered with their families in the North East Zone.”
The United Nations estimated that about 350,000 people had died in the conflict between the JAS, other extremist groups and the Nigerian army since the fighting began 12 years ago. It started in northeastern Nigeria but had spilt over to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
