Brig. Gen. Yusuf Ali, Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, made the remarks in a video from 1:54 posted by Arise Television, addressing the recent surrenders of ISWAP militants. The statement comes amid ongoing efforts to rehabilitate low-risk insurgents who voluntarily leave the group.
He explained that Operation Safe Corridor was established at the height of insurgency to manage the challenge of handling low-risk individuals who were willing to surrender. These individuals were classified as low-risk due to the circumstances under which they joined the militant group.
Brig. Gen. Ali noted that many of the recruits had been forcibly conscripted from local communities during the militants’ occupation of towns such as Gwoza, Madagali, and Bama. As military operations intensified and these areas were cleared, he revealed that some militants took the opportunity to leave and surrender to authorities.
According to him, “We’ll recall that at a time, places like Gwoza, Madagali, Bama, and all those population centers were under the occupation of these criminals. So as kinetic operations were intensifying and they were being cleared from all those places, they packed a lot of able-bodied men from those communities, conscripted them, and forced them to join their group. As kinetic operations are intensifying as those areas are being cleared, some of them seize the opportunity to run and surrender. So the question now is that what do we do with those that have surrendered?” Read_More…