The Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has insisted that repentant Boko Haram Insurgents would be reintegrated back to the society.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, stated this while speaking on Saturday in Washington DC.
He stated that he was misunderstood in reports claiming that he said: “the decision of the Federal Government not to prosecute repentant insurgents was in line with global best practice.”
His latest response may have been informed by a groundswell of criticisms, especially from a former presidential aide in the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Omokri had warned the FG against granting amnesty to the insurgents, warning that they would later regroup and could seize power.
He cited the Taliban take-over of Afghanistan as a potent example, bearing that the United States had once pardoned some of its incarcerated warlords.
According to the minister, however, repentant insurgents can be prosecuted by the federal government.
Mohammed insisted that it was against the best global practice to shoot repentant insurgents without profiling and prosecution.
“I personally spoke to the military authority before I left Nigeria and they said what they were doing is what the global practice dictates about soldiers that surrendered that should be treated as prisoners of war,” he said.
“You cannot just shoot them because there are international conventions that give rights also to prisoners of war.
“What the military is doing is that, when they surrender, they profile them to ensure that they are genuine and reintegrate them into the society.”
He stated that President Buhari government and military should be commended over a large number of insurgents surrendering.
