“Much of Shekau’s fighters have either been absorbed into ISWAP or have fled the Northeast. “The silver lining is that ISWAP consolidation with Shekau’s faction has not gone the way the former would have liked, a glaring indication of the operational losses of the group since Shekau’s death. “It is important to understand that most of the surrender that has happened in the past few days have been from civilians living under ISWAP control, not necessarily commanders of the group,” Mr MacHarry pointed out. The events in May show that the absence of leadership can severely damage Boko Haram but that does not mean the end of the insurgency in the North-east. Some Boko Haram fighters who do not wish to join ISWAP are also fleeing for their safety, ISS research revealed. The group is said to allow civilians kept against their will by Boko Haram under Mr Shekau to leave in a bid to foster its public image as a de-radicalised movement. ISWAP appears to be more liberal than Boko Haram in dealing with civilians. His death on May 19, after his group clashed with ISWAP fighters, was however remarkable, security experts say, as it was announced by a rival armed group and confirmed by some of his top commanders.Įven though the circumstances remain murky, it is believed that the split of Boko Haram in 2016 and Mr Shekau’s death in May contributed to the recent mass repentance. Mr Shekau was reported killed or seriously wounded more than five times since 2009, including in official statements by the Nigerian military, only for him to resurface in online videos weeks later to mock such declarations. Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram terrorists Why repentance? By the end of that year, over 1,000 had left the group in Nigeria, the report said.Īnd since the death of Mr Shekau in May, at least 2,122 people associated with Boko Haram have left the group, the ISS research also showed.
And the reasons they gave have differed over the years.īetween 2014 and early 2015, sustained offensive by the Nigerian military and the Multinational Joint Task Force resulted in many members of Boko Haram laying down their arms.Īfter the group split into two factions – Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah lid-Da’wati wa’l-Jihad (JAS) and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), following the latter’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State in 2016 – more than 800 Boko Haram associates surrendered to government forces within three weeks, a research by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) showed. This is not the first time members of the terrorist group would surrender in droves since the beginning of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009. They believe understanding the real reasons behind such withdrawals will be helpful in the push to stamp out insurgency in the Nigerian North-east region. While some of the repentant terrorists were photographed at a ceremony holding placards with slogans such as “Peace is the only way”, experts warn there is more to it than meets the eye. PREMIUM TIMES reported how at a meeting of community leaders organised by the state government, the leaders expressed their willingness to welcome the repentant terrorists. On Sunday, the Borno State Government said about 3,000 repentant terrorists were set to be welcomed into communities in the state.
Those who surrendered in Nigeria are mostly women and children, with a few commanders of the fighters such as the group’s top bomb expert and his deputy, Nigerian Army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement. Separately, the authorities in neighbouring Cameroon also said more than 260 of the group’s members turned themselves in at a deradicalisation centre in the north of the country. The Nigerian military said over 1,000 fighters of the group and their family members have surrendered and renounced the group’s jihadism in recent weeks. Since Abubakar Shekau, the longtime leader of Boko Haram, died three months ago, hundreds of members of the sect have been reported to have left the group.
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