8,000 Boko Haram Members Surrender Voluntarily – Military Says

The Nigerian Military on Tuesday in Abuja said that no fewer than 8,000 Boko Haram members had voluntarily surrendered to its “Operation Safe Corridor” in the North-East.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar disclosed this at a lecture organised by the FCT Correspondents’ Chapel of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

The lecture with the theme, “Media-Military Relationship in the Fight against Insurgency”, was part of the activities marking the 2016 Press Week of the chapel.

He said that the surrendered insurgents were in a camp in Gombe waiting to be “deradicalised’’.

The general also stated that more than 10,000 Boko Haram captives had been rescued by the military.

He said some were reunited with families, while others were taken to Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP) camps.

Abubakar said that Boko Haram had been successfully decimated by the military and government was working hard on the rehabilitation of the victims and reconstruction of the affected areas.

The general also said that the military would soon launch “Operation Safe Corridor” to address the menace of herdsmen across the country.

He assured that the military operation would put an end to the wanton killings by the herdsmen.

Responding to questions on the recent action by the military declaring some journalists wanted, the general urged the media not to allow sentiments to influence their judgment on the issue.

Abubakar said the military should be allowed to do its work while assuring that no member of the media would be victimised unnecessarily.

He said that good military-media relationship was crucial to winning the war against insurgency.