Nearly 250 Boko Haram fighters, families surrender in 1 week

66 Boko Haram fighters surrendered to military troops alongside nearly 200 members of their families in a week the Nigerian Army is hailing as a great one for the counter-insurgency campaign in the north east region.

Eight fighters surrendered at Ruwaza village in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, and 20 more surrendered at Nbewa village, also in Bama, last week.

19 more fighters surrendered, also in Bama, on Monday, August 2, while an additional 19 surrendered on Wednesday, August 4.

In total 244 people surrendered including dozens of women and children who were received by troops.

The fighters and their families are undergoing comprehensive security profiling and preliminary investigations, while the children have been administered with oral polio vaccines.

Numerous sophisticated weapons, ammunition, explosives, and other items were recovered from the terrorists.

Army spokesperson, Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu, attributed the trend to the 'ferocious offensive operations' conducted by troops of Operation Hadin Kai fighting the terror group.

"Sustained air and artillery bombardments on the enclaves of the terrorists in Sambisa forest and its environs have continued to yield positive results.

"Recently, the terrorists groups have suffered enormous set back and recorded several casualties as a result of ferocious offensives by gallant troops of OPHK," he said on Thursday, August 5.

Boko Haram has terrorised the north east region since 2009 and displaced millions of people from their communities, with their activities spreading to communities in neighbouring countries.

The death toll directly linked to the group's violence has been estimated to be around 35,000, but the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said in a recent report that the total death toll is 10 times higher.

"We estimate that through the end of 2020, the conflict will have resulted in nearly 350,000 deaths, with 314,000 of those from indirect causes," the report noted.

A significant amount of the casualties were recorded in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, with children younger than five years old being the hardest hit.