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The Governor of Borno State, Babangana Zulum, has said that repentant insurgents should not be rejected in order to avoid worsening the insurgency war.
The Governor said this on Tuesday after he paid a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House.
He believes the price for rejecting the surrendered bandits could be far worse than the current situation.
“The report of the surrendering of the insurgents and to me in particular and to the greater people of Borno State is a very welcome development unless we want to continue with an endless war,” Zulum said.
“I see no reason why we should reject those who are willing to surrender.
“I was attacked for more than 40, 50 times. I know the magnitude of this problem.
“More than 100,000 people were killed and therefore, I am in total support of this ongoing surrender by the insurgents”.
Governor Zulum’s comments come as more insurgents continue to embrace amnesty.
According to the governor who says he has also been attacked by insurgents more than 40 different times, 2,600 Boko Haram members have so far surrendered, inclusive of their wives and children.
The issue of amnesty has been a subject of heated debate as many believe that it could further compromise the country’s security architecture.
One of those who has been vocal against the idea is Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume.
He believes the provision of blanket amnesty to insurgents has the tendency to breed new forms of criminality in the country.
“I don’t think blanket amnesty is the solution because if you do that, another form of criminality may emerge (with insurgents) hoping that the government will bring them to the negotiating table,” he said when he made an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today in February.
Senator Ndume said the government must strive to get to the root of the situation to ascertain what the true cause of the problem is.
