Repentant Boko Haram terrorists swore an oath with the Quran not to return to the bush to fight – Borno State Government

The Borno State Government has said that the 160,000 repentant Boko Haram terrorists have sworn to an oath with the Quran not to kill any longer

The state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zuwaira Gambo, disclosed this on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, when she spoke at the public presentation of survivors, victims and deradicalized women of Boko Haram by the UKAID-assisted Maiduguri-based non-governmental organization, Allamin Foundation.

She stated this following the growing public fears that the resurgence of terror in the Northeast was being caused by the repentant terrorists reneging on their repentance and trooping back to the bush to pick up arms against the Nigerian state.

“It is completely untrue that the repentant Boko Haram fighters are reneging on their repentance and returning to the bush to continue fighting,” she said.

“Out of the over 160,000 who repented, we have already reintegrated over 70,000 in their home communities, and I can assure you that no one will be missing should we decide to gather all of them for anyone to confirm. We operate a transparent process of their repentance,”

The commissioner said she was sure the repentant insurgent would not return to the trenches, having taken an oath with the Quran.

“We subject each of them to proper oath taking with the Holy Quran that he or she will never return to the bush to fight; and he or she swears with the Holy Quran in the presence of a committee comprising traditional rulers, religious leaders and government officials.

“No repentant Boko Haram dare renege on the oath because he or she knows what it means to swear with the Holy Quran and renege, and he or she knows that he or she dare not return to the bush because he or she knows that death awaits him on arrival; their commanders in the bush will kill him because they would not trust him.”

Gambo said about 75 per cent of the repentant insurgents were originally farmers, who were captured and forced into insurgency.

“They were not real fighters,” she said.