Food embargo as a lethal weapon of war, is working in
Nigeria’s north east, where hungry militants are fast losing the appetite to
continue their war of attrition against Nigeria.
Scores 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 100 kilometers (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 revealed
today.
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 group 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.
The military has driven the insurgents from the towns and
villages where they had set up an Islamic caliphate but Boko Haram has returned
to hit-and-run tactics and suicide bombings.
Source: PMNEWSNIGERIA
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