Presidential spokesperson Daniel Bwala has defended the Federal Government’s approach to handling repentant terrorists.
He argued that many individuals associated with Boko Haram were forcibly recruited and should not automatically be treated as irredeemable criminals.
Speaking during a media interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, Bwala said Boko Haram resorted to abducting children from villages as it began losing members, forcing many of them into the insurgent group against their will.
According to him, those who later escape from terrorist camps and surrender to the Nigerian authorities after renouncing the group should be given an opportunity for rehabilitation rather than being killed.
“When Boko Haram started to lose their members, they would go to villages, take children into the bush and recruit them.
“These are people who were recruited against their will. If something happens in the camp and they escape and come to the Nigerian government and say they have repented, the Nigerian government will not shoot them,” Bwala said.
His remarks follows public discontent over the Federal Government’s deradicalisation and reintegration programmes for former insurgents.
