Following the abduction of over 100 girls on Sunday, March 3, 2024, when terrorists struck three Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Ngala tow, the headquarters of Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area at the border of Cameroon, an activist group, Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has expressed shock stating that “the continuous attacks by terrorists on Innocent victims they initially displaced from their ancestral homes, show that the reintegration of the so-called repentant terrorists is an exercise in futility.”
A statement from the group reads:
Frontline activist group- HUMAN RIGHT WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA)- has condemned the large scale abduction of girls from internally displaced persons’ camp in Borno State by terrorists even as the Rights groups said the continuous attacks by terrorists on Innocent victims they initially displaced from their ancestral homes, show that the reintegration of the so-called repentant terrorists is an exercise in futility.
HURIWA said it was a fraud for anyone to say that persons who participated in massive killings of citizens can choose to repent and then some kind of reintegration programme has the potential capacity to turn them into better citizens. HURIWA has therefore called for an immediate end to the reintegration programme.
HURIWA described as shocking and a humiliating misplacement of priority, the decision of the Nigerian Government to invest substantial amounts of public funds to carry out a reintegration programme for so-called repentant terrorists, whereas thousands of victims of terrorism languish in many internally displaced peoples camps.
“How can any sane government prioritize the welfare of terrorists who reportedly surrendered rather than investing heavily to compensate, to house, re-settle the actual victims of the perennial terrorism? The report that over 100 girls were kidnapped violently from IDP in Ngala, the headquarters of Gam borou Ngala in Borno State, demonstrates the lack of utilitarian value and the absolute futility of the programme for the reintegration of repentant terrorists.”
HURIWA recalled that Boko Haram insurgents have reportedly abducted dozens of female internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ngala, the headquartres of Gambarou Ngala in Borno State, a local source told Daily Trust.
A security source, who confided in a Journalist, also confirmed the abduction but said, “what we heard is around 113” were abducted
However, a source from the Babban Sansani IDPs camp, stated that the incident happened last Sunday, when the women went to fetch firewood in the bush for domestic and commercial purposes.
“They were surrounded by the insurgents in Bula kunte bush in the western part of Ngala town. They freed the old-aged and entered the bush with 319 abled young girls and some young boys.
“But, three of the girls who escaped and returned to Ngala said the boys (insurgents) took them to a bush close to Bukar-mairam village in Chad republic.
“They escaped in the dead of night after the insurgents fell asleep, trekking for two days before they arrived in Ngala.
“Most of the IDP girls abducted were from Babban Sansani camp, and the rest from Zulum and Arabic camps.
“They went to the bush to fetch firewood for sale because the food we are getting from the camp is not enough to feed us. Life is so difficult here,” he said.
HURIWA recalled that Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has recently disclosed that no fewer than 3,478 repentant terrorists have been reintegrated to the society between 2016 and 2022.
He also said the military had up-scaled the use of hard and soft power in counter-insurgency operations to contain the emerging and changing nature of adversaries.
The CDS stated this while delivering a lecture entitled ”Non-Kinetic Operations and the Nigerian Armed Forces,” at the opening of a national security course on Psychological Operations and Strategic Communication (PSYOPS) yesterday in Abuja.
The course was organised by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) with the theme, Winning Hearts and Minds for National Cohesion and Development.
HURIWA however blames the releases if terrorists for the increasing attacks on IDPs even as it is asking the Federal government and the relevant state governments to put the welfare and well-being of the victims of terror far higher than believing in the so-called repentant terrorists which is a fraudulent scheme that empowers freed terrorists to reintegrate with their former terrorists colleagues to continue to unleash violent attacks on civilians.
Press statement dated on 6th March 2024.
By Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko;
National Coordinator of HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).
