Army: We are not recruiting repentant insurgents

The Nigerian Army has refuted the claim in some quarters that it is enlisting repentant insurgents into the force.

Spokesman for the army, Onyema Nwachukwu, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said the army’s attention was drawn to a video circulated on social media by one Young Elder and produced by Anthony Jay which related the collapse of the Afghanistan military to the surrender of Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.

He said Young Elder, in a comic way, expressed worries about the surrendered insurgents.

“While it is understood that the situation in Afghanistan calls for concerns by any right thinking person or organisation, the manner in which the comic Young Elder presented it shows his lack of basic knowledge on the subject he hurriedly delved into,” he said.

He also stated, “The amateurish production conjured some unfounded and baseless claims that only exist in the figment of their imagination, claiming that surrendered terrorists were going to be absorbed into the Nigerian Army.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the NA does not have any repentant terrorist joining its ranks and does not have any plan for that.

“There are teaming able-bodied Nigerians that are willing to join the NA to genuinely help in the fight against terrorism and other violent crimes.”

The spokesman said the army was not so desperate for recruits that it would stoop low to enlist former insurgents.

He said the “campaign of falsehood embarked upon by some individuals who do not wish the nation well cannot distract its personnel from their resolve to bring an end to the violent crimes in the country”.

Nwachukwu assured Nigerians that the army under the leadership of Faruk Yahaya, chief of army staff, would continue to operate within the dictates of the law.

He said, “Surrendered terrorists will be received, processed and passed to the appropriate government agencies that are saddled with the responsibility of handling them.

“While we recommend that matters related to security be left with those who have the requisite expertise and experience.

“We wish to remind comic characters like Young Elder to focus on contributing towards nation building and not engaging in campaign of falsehood.”