Born-again Boko-Haram terrorists on Saturday engaged in cleaning up Maiduguri as part of steps to reintegrate them into society.

The exercise was organised by the Centre for Democracy Development (CDD) in collaboration with the Borno government.

Speaking on the exercise, Mala Mustafa, a CDD senior research fellow, said the development was to prepare the ex-terrorists for community services as part of the reintegration process.

“The rationale behind this exercise is for CDD to support the Borno state government as part of preparatory work for the reintegration of the ex-combatants. “We felt it’s imperative to change the narrative, particularly the negative perception about them among community members,” stated Mr Mustafa. “We want to rebuild the relationship and trust between those that surrendered and community members.”

He explained that 400 of the repentant insurgents were mobilised for the exercise, with 50 participating this Saturday for a start in the Maiduguri Hajj camp, housing over 12,000 of the born-again Boko Haram terrorists and their families.

The senior fellow added that the CDD would extend the cleaning by the born-again terrorists to selected communities in Maiduguri and its environs.

According to him, the repentants have been trained, particularly on civic education, on how to deal with the challenges of stereotyping, while some Islamic clerics handled them on extremism.

Also, the special adviser to Governor Babagana Zulum on security, Abdullahi Ishaq, lauded the CDD’s initiative.

“CDD provided the equipment for this exercise and has been providing us with technical advice as good partners,” Mr Ishaq said.

Some of the repentants wore T-shirts with inscriptions, ‘Please, forgive us! We have repented’ and ‘Let’s rebuild Borno again’.

Over 70,000 Boko Haram terrorists and their families surrendered to security forces on July 29. They comprised 14,609 combatants, 20,955 women, and 35,029 children. 

(NAN)