Buhari says repentant terrorists will be forgiven

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Boko Haram terrorists to lay down their arms to the Federal Government so that they can be rehabilitated back into society.

The president made the appeal while he was meeting with the Dapchi schoolgirls who were released by Boko Haram after they were abducted in February 2018.

The schoolgirls had been kidnapped by the terrorists on February 19, 2018, during an attack on their school but were released on Wednesday, March 21 to wild jubilation in Dapchi.

While speaking on Friday, March 23, the president said his government is ready to accept terrorists who show strong commitment to changing their ways.

He said, "While further efforts are being made to secure the release of every abducted citizen in Nigeria, Government is ever ready to accept the unconditional laying down of arms by any member of the Boko Haram group, who show strong commitment in that regard.

"We are ready to rehabilitate and integrate such repentant members into the larger society. This country has suffered enough of hostility. Government is therefore appealing to all to embrace peace for the overall development of our people and the country."

Boko Haram menace

Since the insurgency of the terrorist group escalated after a 2009 crackdown by the military, Boko Haram, chiefly under Abubakar Shekau'sleadership, has been responsible for the death of over 20,000 people and the displacement of more than 2.5 million scattered across Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps across the country and its neighbours.

After a massive military operation resulted in the displacement of the group from its Camp Zairo base in the infamous Sambisa Forest, it has resorted to suicide bomb attacks on soft targets and carried out daring attacks on military bases, with hundreds of captives still unaccounted for.