THE lawmaker representing Borno South, Senator Ali Ndume, says repentant insurgents will be useful to security agencies.
Ndume said this yesterday while responding to questions from State House reporters after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, the surrendered insurgents will be useful to the security agencies through the provision of needed information that can lead to the end of the insurgency in the North-East.
He, however, said those surrendering should be handled in line with national and international laws.
“In as much as we welcome the surrender of Boko Haram, it is necessary we follow due process. It is time to apply carrot and stick approach. You can surrender and be processed and investigated accordingly,” he said.
“We sat down last week as stakeholders in Borno over the matter. My governor is already here with resolutions of the meeting. My position has not changed.
“They should be given the window to come in and be processed. Some of them are bold to own up. They will be useful to provide information to security agencies.
“But the victims need to be carried along. More attention should be given to the victims before coming to perpetrators.
“Those that surrendered are also victims. Some of them were converted to slaves. They do menial jobs for them. You have to find out whether they are members of Boko Haram or victims of Boko Haram.”
