I regret tearing my NCE certificate, we were told that Western education was sin —Ex-Boko Haram female member

TRIBUNE

Fatima Musa, a former Boko Haram member who has undergone de-radicalisation, shared her experience at a community dialogue meeting organised recently by the Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development.

She admitted that, as young people with limited religious knowledge, they had been misled.

“We were deceived in our youth through a misinterpretation of religion, only to later realise that we had gone down the wrong path.

“I regret tearing up my NCE certificate when I foolishly embraced the distorted belief that Western education was Haram (forbidden),” Fatima said.

Hajiya Hamsatu Allamin, Head of the Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development, runs a private de-radicalisation project focusing on female members of the sect in the North East.

She explained that Islamic clerics involved in de-radicalisation counter extremist narratives through superior religious arguments.

As she pointed out, Boko Haram is an ideological group that has been misled by a distorted interpretation of the Holy Quran.

Therefore, well-versed clerics are essential in correcting these misconceptions by teaching the true principles of Islam as a religion of peace.

Allamin also highlighted that many women who voluntarily joined the sect but have since been de-radicalised through her foundation are now playing a crucial role in persuading others to surrender.

“Some of these women are responsible for calling their female friends, husbands, and children in the bush to convince them to surrender,” she said.

The ‘Borno Model’, introduced in 2021 by Gov. Babagana Zulum’s administration, is a non-kinetic approach that offers insurgents willing to renounce violence the opportunity to surrender to the military.

The model primarily relies on dialogue to persuade Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters to lay down their arms at designated reception centres and embrace peace.

“This is a community-driven initiative geared towards a win-win situation; both parties stand to gain from the model,” said Retired Brig.-Gen Abdullahi Ishaq, Special Adviser on Security to Gov. Zulum, during a presentation on the initiative.

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