Starving militants surrender to Nigeria's military
Dozens of emaciated-looking Boko Haram
members begging for food have surrendered in northeast Nigeria, the military
and a civilian self-defense fighter said Wednesday.
Seventy-six people including children and
women gave themselves up to soldiers last Saturday in Gwoza, about 60 miles
southeast of Maiduguri, according to a senior officer.
All are being detained at military
headquarters in Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and currently the
command center of the war against the Islamic extremists, according to the
officer. He insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to
journalists.
The detainees said many more fighters want to
surrender, a self-defense civilian fighter who helped escort them to Maiduguri
told The Associated Press.
Food shortages could indicate that Nigeria's
military is succeeding in choking supply routes of the Islamic extremists who
have taken their fight across Nigeria's borders. Some 20,000 people have died
in the 6-year-old uprising. Boko Haram was declared the deadliest of all terror
groups in 2014, surpassing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to which
it declared allegiance last year.
Nigeria's military reported that dozens of
Boko Haram fighters were surrendering in September and October last year. It
promised those who give themselves up voluntarily that they will be
rehabilitated through a de-radicalization program.
In the 10 months since he took office
promising to halt the insurgency, President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced the
leadership of the military, moved the headquarters for the fight from the
distant capital, Abuja, to the heart of the northeastern insurgency and
resupplied soldiers.
As the military has driven the insurgents
from the towns and villages where they had set up an Islamic caliphate, Boko
Haram has returned to hit-and-run tactics and suicide bombings.
