Some repentant insurgents took to the streets of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, on Saturday morning, Aug. 13, asking for forgiveness from the residents of the state as they conducted remediation exercises in the communities.
The sanitation exercise was organized by the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) in collaboration with the state government of Borno. Some of the repentant insurgents wore T-shirts with inscriptions that read “Forgive us,” “We have repented,” and “Let’s rebuild Borno.”
Mala Mustafa, senior research fellow at CDD, said of the exercise that the exercise is part of the effort to prepare them for their reintegration process. He said 400 of the repentant insurgents have been mobilized for the exercise, with 50 of them taking part in a take-off at Maiduguri Hajj camp this Saturday.
In July, Christopher Musa, theater commander of Operation Hadin Kai’s Northeast Joint Task Force, said more than 67,000 insurgents have surrendered to troops so far.