Amid the spike of terror in Northeast Nigeria which has provoked fears that the terrorist gangs were multiplying because so-called “repentant terrorists” have taken up arms again, state authorities have allayed the worries.
Zuwaira Gambo, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development in Borno, said on Wednesday that there are over 70,000 repentant jihadists who have been reintegrated into their communities to lead a life devoid of crime.
Since part of the process for reintegration is the taking of an oath with the Holy Quran, Gambo said such speculations are “completely untrue.”
“We subject each of them to proper oath-taking with the Holy Quran that they will never return to the bush to fight,” said the Minister. This oath is taken before a committee of traditional heads, religious leaders, and government officials.
Breaking the oath, Gambo stressed, has dire consequences.
“No repentant Boko Haram dare renege on the oath because they know what it means to swear with the Holy Quran and renege. And they know that they dare not return to the bush because death awaits them on arrival: their commanders in the bush will kill him because they would not trust him,” she said.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
