Punch
Former Boko Haram fighters who have surrendered to the Nigerian government and are kept at various camps within Maiduguri are protesting their long stay in the camps.
The protesting ex-fighters are those kept at the Maiduguri transit camp within the metropolis. This protest, according to sources is the fourth time the ex-fighters are protesting on their prolonged stay in confinement.
According to a source among the security personnel guarding the camp, the ex-fighters demanded that the government either release them into society or find a way to engage them as they are said to be tired of being idle for months in the camp.
The former Boko Haram fighters said they have been kept in the camp for about four months without doing anything. They said they have been separated from their wives – with some having three, four wives.
During the protest, the surrendered terrorists destroyed public infrastructures in the camp, a source disclosed to The PUNCH on Thursday.
According to the same source, some of the former terrorists housed in other camps within the town are already escaping into society without the permission of the authorities.
“Some of them in other camps are escaping from the camp. They are running out of the camps after getting tired of being in the camp without doing anything and the government has done nothing to stop the escape,” the source noted…
