SAN FRANCISCO, December 28, (THEWILL) – Mohamed Bazoum, the Nigerien interior minister, has revealed that dozens of Boko Haram fighters had given themselves up to authorities in southern Niger, days after the Islamist group suffered key losses at the border with Nigeria.
Bazoum, on Wednesday said 31 young people from Diffa who were enrolled in Boko Haram a few years ago, decided to surrender and were being held by local authorities.
A former Boko Haram combatant told journalists: “We expect a pardon from the government so that we can participate in the development of the country and help us get rid of the trauma.
“I learned that the first who surrendered were not arrested, and I surrendered.”
It was not clear what would become the fate of the ex-Boko Haram fighters, but a security source said a meeting was planned for Wednesday in Diffa to discuss the conditions of surrender.
Boko Haram has killed 15,000 people and displaced over 2 million during a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state in Nigeria.
The group controlled an area about the size of Belgium in early 2015 but has since been pushed back by international forces, including troops from Niger.
However, Nigeria’s army captured Boko haram’s last enclave in the vast Sambisa forest on Friday leading to disarray in the camp of the insurgents.
Story by Oputah David
