Theatre Commander Operation Hadin Kai, Christopher Musa, says the military is not pampering surrendered Boko Haram terrorists.
Musa said this in an interview with journalists on Wednesday, in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
He said the military’s decision to allow insurgents to surrender to troops is in line with international laws and best practices, adding that when an enemy surrenders during combat, the capturing forces are, by law, not to shoot that individual.
He said the army is also expected to treat the surrendered enemy humanely.
“People misunderstood humane treatment as being pampering, because if a surrendered insurgent is sick, we are supposed to treat him; if he is hungry we are supposed to give him food; we are supposed to provide him shelter just like any other person and that is exactly what we are doing,” he said.
“ We are just keeping them as humans to ensure that they are fit enough to go though proper procedure and they will definitely go through this procedure.
“Again, let me assure the public that there is no aspect of pampering. We are sorting them out so that those that didn’t play any part will be handled separately, while those ones that took part actively, the combatants, will be treated separately.
“We assure the public that we will continue to do our best to ensure that peace returns to the north-east, which is our mandate.”
The theatre commander also advised other insurgents to surrender now that they had the opportunity to do so.
