Over 7,000 Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists have surrendered to the Nigerian Army in the past one week, says Major General Christopher Musa, Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), North East Nigeria.
General Musa, told journalists in Borno State capital, Maiduguri, on Wednesday that the spate of surrender by ISWAP and Boko Haram terrorists in the region North-East Region is evidence that the joint military operation’s onslaught against the insurgents is recording significant successes.
According to him, “this is evident as thousands of the insurgents comprising of combatants, non-combatants, foot soldiers alongside their families, continued to lay down their arms in different parts of Borno to accept peace.”
Musa explained that the surrendered terrorists and their families are expected to be carefully profiled by the Nigerian army and other stakeholders before they undergo rehabilitation processes.
The Theatre Commander said that the Nigerian Military and other security agencies will continue to devise and implement effective strategies to bring Boko Haram terrorism to a speedy end.
Already, over 30,000 terrorists and their families had so far surrendered to the Nigerian military in the last nine months.
Tukur Buratai, the immediate past army chief, had in 2015 changed the name from operation Zaman Lafiya to operation Lafiya Dole.
Buratai had said the decision signalled his determination to attain peace by force in the north-east.