Nigeria: 79,000 insurgents surrender; 3 Chibok girls also rescued

Over 79,000 insurgents comprising combatants and non combatants have so far surrendered to the Nigerian troops, and also 3 more Chibok girls were also rescued, the Theatre Commander, North East Operation Hadin Kai, Major General Christopher Musa, said.

The Theatre Commander made this known in Maiduguri while briefing newsmen on recent successes of the command.

Musa said the sustained onslaught on the insurgents under the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches had led to the mass surrender.

According to him, this led to need to have additional camps in Maiduguri to host the repentants that were being sorted out to identify the combatants and non-combatants.

He lauded the support from the public, which he described as “unsung heroes” and urged them to sustain the tempo for a speedy end to the conflict.

He said: “We are really happy with the way the members of the public were cooperating with us.

“They see the sincerity in what we are doing and we are committed to the human rights charter and the rules of engagement in our operations.”

Also speaking on recent successes, the General Officer Commanding, 7 Division, Maiduguri, Major General Waidi Shuaibu, said within the period under review, three more Chibok girls were also rescued.

Shuaibu said the girls rescued were: Falmata Lawan, Asabe Ali and Jinkal Yama, who are on serial number 3, 12 and 20 respectively on the list of abducted Chibok girls.

The girls were rescued separately in Bama axis on August 30, September 1 and September 2 respectively.