How my mother’s video made me leave Boko Haram – Mohammed, ex-terrorists

n n

File: Some of the 601 repentant Boko Haram terrorists reintegrated into society after DRR graduation in Gombe.

n

Ibrahim Mohammed, 32, had spent years deep in the vast forests of Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state as a jihadist fighter when a video message from his mother changed everything.

n

Read Also: Oyo Muslim community distances Islam from kidnappers’ Sharia demand

n

A 2009 uprising by the Boko Haram group triggered Nigeria’s ongoing insurgency, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 3 million.

n

“I received a video message from my mother. She pleaded with me to leave the group, lay down my arms, and return home,” Mohammed told AFP on Friday at a ceremony to mark the end of a rehabilitation programme for former jihadist fighters in Borno’s capital, Maiduguri, the epicentre of the 17-year-long insurgency.

n

“It touched me deeply. I realised that my family still cared about me and wanted me back. That was when I decided to leave the bush and surrender.”

n

Mohammed was among about 720 former fighters who recently completed a state government rehabilitation programme, part of non-military efforts to counter the insurgency.

n

Standing under a scorching sun, the former fighters, dressed in white T-shirts, were handed copies of the Koran on which they swore an oath not to rejoin jihadist groups.

n

Among them were self-confessed former commanders, including one who said he gave permission for his son to be killed for refusing to attack a village.

n

“Because he rejected the movement and its mission, I gave permission for him to be killed,” Bulama Mukhtar, 36, said.

n

Women and children were also part of the programme, which officials said was aimed at making them self-reliant and productive.

n

At least 9,680 participants have been trained since it began in 2021, Sabi Abdullahi Ishaq, the security adviser to the Borno state governor, said.

n

Participants spent months at a camp in the state capital learning vocational skills such as car repairs and tailoring.

n

Not genuine religion

n

Boko Haram, meaning western education is forbidden, began waging a war to carve out an Islamic caliphate in 2009.

n

But some former fighters told AFP that they were misled and that the jihadist violence has less to do with religion.

n

“I realised that the violence and suffering inflicted on innocent people had nothing to do with genuine religious preaching,” said 36-year-old Mustapha Kaka, who rose to become an assistant commander.

n

“It was not what we started in the name of Islam.”

n

Idris Abdulkadir, 44, a former fighter with Boko Haram rival offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), said he “got married and had 11 children while living in the bush.”

n

“Because I joined Boko Haram, I was left behind while my mates continued their education and became respected Islamic scholars,” Abdulkadir told AFP.

n

‘Chance to rebuild’

n

Former fighters said life was hard in the mountains and forests, where they were constantly on the move and often went days without sleep.

n

The rehabilitation programme is a “chance to rebuild our lives,” Mohammed said.

n

Ya Fanna Isa, 25, spent a decade in Boko Haram captivity after being abducted from her village, marrying a fighter and raising four children.

n

She eventually fled with two of her children, while her other two remained with their father.

n

“I want to start over and live in peace,” Isa said. “My hope is that my children will have opportunities that I never had.”

n

But despite the intentions behind the programme, Adebayo said it had flaws that could “affect their promise of stabilisation and durable peace”.

n

“One is the risk of granting blanket amnesty to those that have committed grievous atrocities and who claimed to be mere low-risk associates.,” he told AFP.

n n