from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – SOME 47 Boko Haram terrorists have allegedly surrendered to the Nigerian military amid alleged infighting within the terror group.
The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising forces from countries in the Lake Chad region, reported the defections.
The task force also attributed the surrender to frustrations among militants over alleged ethnic divisions within then terror group.
MNJTF quoted a surrendered militant as saying Abubakar Shekau was facing a rebellion from a faction in the terror group.
A female terrorist who has also laid her arms was quoted as saying the abuse of women in the Islamist sect was rife.
Colonel Timothy Antigha, the chief spokesperson of the MNJTF, denounced Boko Haram as a “transnational criminal enterprise which has been sustained by grand deception, appeal to religious sentiments and violence.”
“The force is therefore vindicated by the testimonies of the surrendered terrorists who spoke on their own volition,” Antigha said.
“Consequently, the MNJTF renews the call on other misled fighters in the bush to come out,” the military spokesperson added.
He appealed to communities to accept and reintegrate the surrendered terrorists.
“The MNJTF shares in the understanding that such a gesture by communities will go a long way in the continuing efforts to defeat terrorism and build peace in the Lake Chad Basin,” Antigha said.
MNJTF comprises military personnel from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
It is tasked with eradicating the Boko Haram, which has killed over 30 000 people and displaced 2 million people, mostly in Nigeria.
Then terror started in 2009.
– CAJ News