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Widow of Ibrahim Sakaba, a lieutenant-colonel killed by Boko Haram, Oluwaseun, has berated the Nigerian Army for commending the 1,081 Boko Haram terrorists it said surrendered in Bama, Borno State, on Monday.
The army had disclosed in a statement on Monday that a bomb expert for the terrorist group known as Musa Adamu, a.k.a Mala Musa Abuja, and his second in command Usman Adamu, a.k.a Abu Darda, along with their families and followers surrendered to the troops of operation Hadin Kai in Bama Local Government Area of Borno.
Photos shared on the army’s social media page saw the surrendered terrorists display several placards with different inscriptions such as “Nigerians, please forgive us”, “surrender and live”, “surrender and be free”, among others.
The acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division and Commander Sector 1 OPHK Brigadier General Abdulwahab Eyitayo had also said “their decision to drop their arms and come out is highly commendable, enjoining them to advise other terrorists to surrender and “embrace the new life of peace and rehabilitation.”
The surrendered terrorists and their families totalling 335 fighters, 746 adult women, and children were subsequently given new clothes “and assorted food items, groceries and toiletries.”
They were given food items and clothes and would be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari government’s programme of reintegrating ‘repentant’ terrorists in the Northeast.
A report last year by the United Nations Develop Programme (UNDP) has said the terror group had killed not less than 350,000 people since 2009.
The programme of rehabilitating the insurgents has continued to attract criticisms from many Nigerians.
Reacting to the latest development in a post on her Instagram page, the widow of Mr Sakaba lambasted the army, wondering why the terrorists should be forgiven after their atrocities.
She also accused the army of pretense and not paying the dues of her late husband.
“@hqnigerianarmy it we (sic) never be well with all of you…I should forgive them for making me a young widow, I should forgive them for killing my husband, his brother and his mom!! I should forgive them for making me seek shelter in another country,” she wrote on Instagram.
Mr Sakaba died alongside 117 other soldiers in November 2018, after Boko Haram insurgents attacked a Nigerian Army battalion in Borno State.
After his death, he was hailed by colleagues for his leadership at the Nigerian Army 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele, Gazette reported.
