Why we oppose Buhari’s rehabilitation of Boko Haram insurgents — Soldiers

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As the debate continues to rage over whether it was constitutionally, morally and socially right for the Federal Government to give amnesty to repentant Boko Haram members, some soldiers, who resigned from Nigerian Army, have expressed their worries over the issue.

A soldier, who resigned after being disenchanted with what was happening in the army, said he was tired of seeing friends, mates and colleagues being slaughtered. He couldn’t take the nightmarish incidents anymore. So, he left.

Just like most military and paramilitary personnel, he agreed to speak with our reporter anonymously. According to him, amnesty should not be granted to repentant Boko Haram members, not after they had caused many women and children to become Internally Displaced Persons.

He said: “Giving amnesty and rehabilitating insurgents is like romancing terrorism and urging people to dash off to join the Boko Haram Sect. This government is paying too much attention and love to Boko Haram insurgents. Rather, it should pay attention to children, whose parents were killed by these insurgents. Many people, especially women and children, have been rendered homeless and displaced by these insurgents.

“Soldiers are being killed every day in the North East, but nobody is taking care of them. Families of late and serving soldiers, who are at the North East, are not being cared for. Meanwhile, our government is busy caring for these so-called repentant Boko Haram members. I doubt if they had truly repented.

“If you want to have a feel of what happened during the civil war in Nigeria or Somalia, just visit the IDP camps in the northeast. You’ll weep! Children and people there are malnourished and suffering, while the so-called repentant Boko Haram members are being well fed.”

He argued that right now, the government had provided for the feeding and other needs of the repentant insurgents but wondered what happens after the money runs out?

“What if their handlers divert the money? These insurgents will just re-join their members. It’s all about the money. Many of them see terrorism as an easy way to make money. The government is making terrorism attractive for people. It’s dangerous!” said the ex-soldier.

He explained that so many soldiers had become disenchanted with the job but continued to remain due to lack of jobs in Nigeria. He added: “I resigned because I lost interest in the job. I love the job but the ill treatment was too much. These so-called repentant insurgents should be made to face the law.”

Another soldier, who also resigned, said there was nothing like repentance among the insurgents. He said there were so many things he would have loved to discuss with our reporter but for its sensitive concerns.

When information filtered out that the Federal Government was planning to forgive repented Boko Haram members, rehabilitate and then allow them into the society, many had scoffed at the very notion, perceiving the information as fake news, emanating from social media. Today, it has become a reality, with over 603 Boko Haram members alleged to have been rehabilitated and graduated from the Federal Government’s programme. Since the news broke, the Nigerian Army has witnessed turbulent episodes, with over 300 soldiers resigning and some taking to social media to call out their superiors. These were incidents unheard of before in a known regimented force.

As many soldiers were resigning, others were being killed by Boko Haram insurgents. According to a source, the army has embarked on recruitment, to replace its depleting workforce. The call for application, it alleged, had jettisoned the normal recruitment process.

A third soldier, who also resigned, said: “We have many undergraduates looking for jobs but instead of the government to look for ways to create jobs for them, the government is channelling its lean resources to care for insurgents. This is after soldiers lost their lives to these insurgents. You’ll be shocked at the amount of money they would later mention was spent on these repentant insurgents. Right now, the government probably thinks what it is doing is the right thing.

“I find it difficult to understand why insurgents should be pardoned. Nigeria as a nation should fight Boko Haram insurgency head to head and finish the war, rather than saying some of them have repented. Even those so called repented Boko Haram members, might not be Boko Haram members, and had never fought before in their lives. They just heard about the programme and keyed into it.

“The question should be; what has the government got from these repentant Boko Haram insurgents? If they had truly repented, they should be able to furnish the government with information, which would lead to ending this war.”

Security analysts believed that the gross disrespect being expressed by junior soldiers to their superiors were one of the fallouts of these ideas of forgiving insurgents, who had killed many soldiers and left women and children displaced.