Christopher Musa, theatre commander of the north-east joint
task force — operation Hadin Kai — says the army is not pampering surrendered
Boko Haram terrorists.
Speaking in an interview with journalists on Wednesday, Musa
said the military’s decision to allow insurgents to surrender to troops is in
line with international laws and best practices.
He said 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.
“I don’t know if
people misunderstood humane treatment as being pampering, because if he 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,” NAN quoted him as saying.
“So, there is no aspect of pampering. 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 want to reassure
the citizenry that we are on top of the game. We assure them that we will
continue to do our best to ensure that peace returns to the north-east, which
is our mandate.”
The theatre commander advised other insurgents to also
surrender now that they had the opportunity to do so.
“I am sure that even they too want their children to have a
conducive atmosphere, where they will grow and where there will be development,
because staying in the bush and killing people will not provide that,” he said.
“They should not allow anybody to deceive them into taking
arms against the nation. They will never win and they can never win.
“It is important for
them to understand that anybody who disarms will be treated fairly according to
international laws.”
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