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Ex-Boko Haram commander urges insurgents to leave the forests, reunite with families

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A repentant Boko Haram commander, Adamu Rugurugu, has appealed to members of Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) to leave their hideouts in the forest, surrender their arms, and embrace peace.

Rugurugu’s appeal was contained in a video posted on Monday by Zagazola Makama, a publication focused on the Lake Chad region.

The former Boko Haram commander alleged that the insurgency wedged by the insurgents has no link with religion.

He told the insurgents that the government has accepted them.

The Federal Government, under the Operation Safe Corridor programme, in the North-East region, has rehabilitated hundreds of repentant terrorists.

Speaking in Hausa, Rugurugu said: “I am the man popularly known as Malam Adamu Rugurugu, I want to call on those of you (Boko Haram/ISWAP) that are still hibernating in the forest.

“We have been sending messages to you to come back. I want to warn those of you who are still in the forest (Boko Haram/ISWAP), I know most of you know me. So what are you still doing (in the forest), you should come out.

ISWAP that is telling you that they are with you, they came and met us in Sambisa and told us that they will not touch us and that we should practice the same religion.

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“So if it is something that has to do with religion, then why are you killing yourselves? You are no longer going out to fight wars in other places, you are now waging wars against yourselves.

“If what you are doing is true, then why are you now killing those people that you claimed are part of you? Is this not pure hypocrisy?

“Now everybody has understood that this thing (Boko Haram) is not about religion. Leave whatever you are doing whether you are ISWAP, Boko Haram, or whatever you are, and come back and join us to live in peace under the same roof. Come back and reunite with your parents and live in peace.

“All the killings that are currently going on now are only being targeted at militant businessmen, not to talk of the fact that you become a target when you have money and you are doing business in Sambisa and you will not spend more than two weeks before you will get killed.

“So this shows that they are only after your wealth to dispossess you of it before killing you. Therefore, you should come out so that we can all live peacefully. The government has accepted us.”

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