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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has declared that of 2,600 insurgents now in custody, not all could be categorised as criminals.
The governor further indicated that over 100,000 people have been killed in the twelve-year insurgency in the northeast, adding that about 10 per cent of Borno natives missing as a result of the insurgency.
Governor Zulum made this disclosure while briefing State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja on Tuesday.
The governor noted that many of those who have surrendered are women and young children who were forced to join the insurgents, trained to handle AK-47s.
Governor Zulum added that no law prescribes the killing of surrendered insurgents, saying that they would be trained for the purpose of reintegration.
The governor, who said the issue of the surrendered insurgents was part of what he discussed with the president, assured that victims of the insurgency would be taken care of, saying that ‘they will not be left behind.’
Governor Zulum, who said that he had been the subject of insurgent attacks on about fifty occasions, also promised to support the victims of the insurgents, particularly those whose parents were murdered.
Speaking on the purpose of his visit to Abuja, the Borno governor stated: ‘I came to brief Mr President over the ongoing surrender by insurgents. I think, to me, and to the greater majority of people of Borno State, this is a very good development.
‘In the last 12 years thousands of lives were lost, people have completely lost their means of livelihood. We have a total number of over 50,000 orphans and widows, these are official figures, the unofficial figures are more than this, and we were able to cultivate not more than three per cent of our total arable land because of the insurgency and right now, the whereabouts of not less than 10 per cent of people of Borno State is not known to all of us at all.
‘This is a very serious matter and I think the report of the surrendering of the insurgents, to me in particular and to the greater people of Borno State, is a very welcomed development. Unless we want to continue with an endless war, I see no reason why we shall reject those that are willing to surrender.
‘I came to brief Mr President on this matter and Mr President has given my humble self and the people of Borno State the assurances of his continued support in this direction so, that this matter can be resolved amicably,’ he said.
Regarding the ongoing mass surrender of repentant insurgents, the governor expressed his support for the development, adding that it would be in the best interest of peace and a way to eventually bring the protracted insurgency to an end.
He explained that not all surrendering insurgents could be categorised as criminals as many of them are also victims forcible conscripted into terrorism at very young ages.
He described it as dangerous if those surrendering are not received as a way out of the more than 12 years of the security crisis in the state and the North East, warning that the insurgency may continue.
According to the governor, ‘deepening internal democracy and social cohesion is a prelude to sustainable peace in any nation. Therefore, we’re not unaware of the negative effects of this programme, but that is why we want to see the involvement of the federal government on a large scale.
‘We are going back to Maiduguri to have wider consultations with the victims themselves, the traditional rulers and the generality of the people of Borno State, the major stakeholders, including the Nigerian Army, the civilian JTF and others, to develop a framework that will ensure the sustainability of this programme.
‘We are not unmindful of this issue, it’s not a small issue because we are not just saying that those that have surrendered shall be reintegrated into the society very soon, no.
‘But mind you, among those that have surrendered, some are innocent, that were forcefully conscripted into this programme.
‘Some are teenagers, below the ages of 11, 12, who can handle AK-47 and there’s one very important thing that Nigerians need to understand; if this issue of Boko Haram, insurgency, is not resolved, I believe it will never end because it is a generation.
‘Those that came out from the bush you can see one person has two wives, three wives in the bush, he’s having 10 children. These children are well trained to behave in such a manner. What is this manner? Carrying AK-47 and it’s a generation.
‘Therefore, I think it is the best possible option for us to see that we resolve this issue by involving the federal government because the federal government is a major stakeholder. The President has agreed to provide the leadership.
‘We can also involve the international community and other stakeholders; the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is very key. The Defense Ministry, the army, the Police, DSS and others are also very important to develop a framework that will ensure the sustainability of this programme,’ he said.
Asked about the way forward, the Borno governor expressed: ‘We shall immediately call a stakeholders’ meeting in Borno State, comprising of the Minister of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Attorney General, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and most importantly, the NIA also because we have some certain foreign involvement in the matter, the traditional rulers and especially the victims, so that we can come up with any solutions, far-reaching recommendations that can be programmed in a structured manner, to ensure amicable resolution of this issue.
‘I think it’s not right for me to immediately say that that is what we’re doing, but I think this is the first thing that we need to do, then after this, the recommendations can also be forwarded to the President, but the most important thing is that I, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Borno State, I’ve been in this cycle for a long time. I’m the pioneer Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement.’
Narrating further the experience of the people of the state affected by the decades-long insurgency, including his personal experience, Governor Zulum said too many people had been killed, rendered widows and orphans, adding that close to 50 attempts had been made on his life.
‘I’ve been in this… for the last 11 or 12 years. I was attacked more than 40 to 50 times, I know the magnitude of this problem. More than 100,000 people were killed, I’m telling you. We have more than 100,000 orphans now, we have more than 100,000 windows now. Therefore, I’m in total support of this ongoing surrender by the insurgents, we support them and those who have surrendered shall be dealt with according to the extant rules and regulations.
‘We have international conventions that stipulated how we can handle them. There is no law that clearly stipulated that they should be killed, but we have to be very careful in managing this crisis.
‘The Government of Borno State is never contemplating giving a dime for those insurgents in the bush to surrender. No. Anybody who wishes to surrender, then the government will now look into the possibility of accepting them, developing a framework, rehabilitating them, while the issue of reintegrating them shall be discussed further.
‘Most importantly, the victims shall not be left behind, I want to support the victims. Those whose parents were killed, the federal government gave them… to help them, but those that have surrendered, then we can look into the possibility of engaging them and then see how to train them and how to streamline them into the system. Not now, in the later stage,’ he said.
On the number of those that have surrendered, the governor said: ‘Right now, we have about 2, 600 in our custody, but mind you, this number is inclusive of their children and their wives, including their families.
‘So, as I said before, among these people that have surrendered, some are innocent. We started profiling them with the Nigerian Army and the DSS so that those that have not committed a heinous crime, especially the teenagers, the women that haven’t done anything, we can find an immediate way of resetting them.
‘Those that were deeply involved also, we shall look into the possibility of training them so that at a later stage, the Federal Government and the state government will decide to keep them to address the issue holistically.
‘The good news is that the Nigerian Army is providing enough support for us, enough cooperation from the Nigerian Army, from the DSS and the Nigeria Police. We thank God for this one, and we thank God for Mr President,’ Governor Zulum said.
