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A repentant female Boko Haram member, Fatima Musa, who underwent torture and drilling while in the Mafa Local Government Area of Borno state from the sect says she regret shredding her National Diploma Certificate.
Musa made this known in Maiduguri during a community dialogue on understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence organised for the repentants and community leaders of Mafa.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the dialogue was organised by a community-based non-governmental organisation, Allamin Foundation, with support from the British Government under the UKaid.
Musa, who was deradicalised with other repentant women by the foundation, said many of them joined the insurgency at a young age after they were misled.
“We were misled as young people through the use of religion and later discovered that we went the wrong way after were deradicalised by the foundation.
“We met with clerics who put us on the right track regarding Islam. We are now mature and more knowledgeable in Islam and the teachings of the Holy Prophet that promote peace and tolerance.
“I regret tearing my NCE certificate up when I made the mistake of accepting the twisted ideology that Western education was Haram.
“One of my prayers, for now, is to reach out to my father, who is now in a neighbouring country, to beg for his forgiveness for joining the sect against his wish,” she said.
Another deradicalised female, who identified herself as Bintu, pleaded for forgiveness from the people of Mafa and urged for support for the foundation to reach out to more women and men in the bush.
Bintu pointed out that a few cases of some repentant insurgents returning to the bush had to do with stigma and harassment by some people, telling them that they were doomed for hell fire in spite of their repentance.
“If you keep telling people they are doomed, they’ll say since there’s no forgiveness, they had better go back and continue.
“Some of the surrendered have easy money and others loot in the bush. They are struggling for survival with other citizens in their communities.
“Such repentants need to be encouraged to start a new life to sustain it,” Bintu said.
Some residents of Mafa, who also spoke at the meeting, urged the government to do more on the deradicalisation and resettlement process through more empowerment support to victims and those that repented in line with transitional justice.
The leader of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Mafa, Babagana Butu, said members now include some of the repentant insurgents.
“We patrol the area together. We provided them with farmlands to cultivate like everyone as part of the reintegration process.
“We want the government to also remember them in its empowerment programmes to enable them to sustain themselves and their families as well as contribute positively to the society,” Butu said.
