Ex-Boko Haram fighters open up on life inside Sambisa forest

Former Boko Haram fighters — some who spent over a decade in the bush — have opened up about life inside Sambisa Forest, describing a world of rationed food, forbidden phone calls, deliberate misinformation and brutal discipline that kept fighters trapped through fear rather than faith.

As reported by Saturday Sun, ex-fighters including Liman, Mohammed Ibrahim and former Boko Haram camp cleric Malam Bashir spoke from a Maiduguri rehabilitation centre, recounting how many were coerced or deceived into joining the terror group before eventually escaping.

“I told myself one day that the life of a terrorist is a terrible one. So I quit,” Liman said, describing his 2014 abduction at an insurgent roadblock. Bashir, who served as Imam to Abubakar Shekau himself, narrowly escaped execution after challenging Shekau’s Quranic interpretations — surviving only because ISWAP’s assault on the camp killed Shekau three days before his scheduled execution.

All three described systematic lying as a core insurgent tool — warning fighters that surrendering meant military execution or lethal government injections.