General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has revealed that no fewer than 51,828 Boko Haram terrorists and their family members surrendered to the Federal Government of Nigeria between July 2021 and May 2022.
Irabor disclosed this while delivering a lecture titled “National Defence Policy and Transitional Justice Approach in the War Against Insurgency in Nigeria” at the 7th Founders’ Day of the Edo State University, Uzairue, in Etsako West local government area on Saturday.
The CDS also said that 1,543 repentant Boko Haram terrorists graduated from the Mallam Sidi camp in Gombe between 2016 and 2022.
Irabor said, “between July 2021 to May 2022 alone, no fewer than 51,828 Boko haram and their family members have surrendered, out of which 13,360 are fighters.”
“The programme [which is known as Operation Safe Corridor] offers numerous opportunities, and participants are scheduled for vocational training to ease their reintegration into society,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been fighting the Boko Haram insurgency for the past eight years.
Buhari’s government has recorded a significant victory over the terrorists, as many have surrendered to the government.