800 repentant Boko Haram insurgents undergoing training – NEMA

Over 800 repentant Boko Haram insurgents are currently being trained, with a view to equipping them in various skills. Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi, yesterday made the revelation at a two-day public hearing on the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill, 2016. He explained that the skills acquisition exercise was being undertaken by the military and monitored by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

The NEMA boss gave the information while responding to the comment of a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kaka Kyari Gujbawu, who was advocating that the Federal Government should grant amnesty to returning Boko Haram insurgents.

However, Sani did not disclose where the training exercise was taking place, but it was speculated that the repentant Boko Haram insurgents were undergoing the training in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. In his comments, the NEMA DG said: “It is not true that the Federal Government has no amnesty package.

There is what is called safe corridor. I do know that 800 plus Boko Haram former members have been registered. I don’t want to be specific. They have exited Boko Haram through the window. They are currently receiving various skills acquisition training.

The military is handling it. It is being monitored by the Office of the CDS.” Chairman, Joint Committee on the North East Development Commission Bill, Senator Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Special Duties, assured that the joint committee would consider the amnesty option. President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, while inaugurating the public hearing, noted that what had been witnessed in the North-East needed urgent special attention from all well-meaning Nigerians and not from government alone.