Ekeomah Atuonwu
According to local media reports, 7,000 members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram have surrendered in northeast Nigeria in the last week.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, a top commander in the region, Major General Christopher Musa, an onslaught targeting ISWAP and Boko Haram fighters has continued to yield significant success.
During the last week of operations, at least 7,000 Boko Haram and ISWAP members surrendered, according to Musa.
“This is evident as thousands of insurgents, including combatants, non-combatants, and foot soldiers, as well as their families, continued to lay down their arms in various parts of Borno to accept peace,” he said.
The surrendering fighters and their families will be profiled by the Nigerian army and other stakeholders before they go through rehabilitation processes, according to the general.
Boko Haram has been leading an insurgency in northeast Nigeria since 2009. Its attacks have spread to neighboring countries such as Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting a military response. The organization has also splintered, with one faction pledging allegiance to ISIL (ISIS).
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Nigeria, approximately 350,000 people have been killed and three million civilians have been displaced in the country’s more than a decade of fighting.
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