Hunger hits Boko Haram members •56 insurgents nabbed while searching for food

MILITARY authorities in Borno State they had arrested a group of 56 terrorists that were moving from village to village in search of food, following a tip off from civilians.
Some member of the group, according to the Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade, who were moving around in a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep with registration number Borno XA 428 ADM, suspected to have been stolen, were arrested at Daban Masara village while looking for food.
Weapons found in their possession included AK-47 rifles, single-barrel shotgun, double-hand shotgun and various calibres of arms.
Other items recovered from the group included seven packs of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), two rocket-propelled gun chargers, two machetes, bomb detonators, camouflage and other military uniforms. They were also with charms, seven vehicles and eight tricycles.
Olukolade said that it was believed that some stranded terrorists were keen on establishing new camps. According to him, most of them are currently in search of food, and are being trailed by military operatives.
The defence spokesman also disclosed that there were a few encounters with some insurgents in forest locations, apart from the identified and destroyed camps.
He said that the intensive cordon and search operation being conducted by the troops of the Special Forces received a major boost from civilian cooperation in communities close to locations being focused in the operation.
58 sect members released
Following presidential directives, a total of 58 children and women linked with Boko Haram were released in Borno and Yobe States by military authorities on Friday.
Some of the released children disclosed to Saturday Tribune that they were each paid N5,000 whenever they were sent on intelligence gathering errands by the insurgents.
The detainees in Yobe State were presented to the state government by the spokesman of the JTF in the state, Lieutenant Eli Lazarus.
The detainees released in Yobe include 17 women and 21 children.
Lieutenant Eli Lazarus expressed the hope that the release would serve the purpose for which it was intended pointing out that other detainees will also be released in subsequent badges.
Receiving the detainees on  behalf of the state government, the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Ahmed Mustapha Goneri, thanked the JTF, saying the detainees would  be rehabilitated and integrated into the society.
The state government, according to him, will give those released the needed trade so as to start up life afresh.
This is just as Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, received 20 members of the sect comprising six women and 14 young men between ages nine and 14 at the Government House in Maiduguri for rehabilitation and subsequent release to their parents.
Governor Shettima, while receiving the released sect members, thanked the president for his magnanimity and courage, indicating his commitment and quest for peace and return of normalcy in the state.
He commended security agencies for ensuring the safe-keep of the sect members and handing them over to government in good health.
“We will do our part by ensuring that they are integrated into the larger society after rehabilitation to become better citizens. The Federal Government has shown commitment by releasing the wives and children of Boko Haram sect members under detention.
“We would admit the women into our development centres for rehabilitation while the children would be handed over to the ministry of women affairs for their parents to come and receive them after they might have written an undertaking to enroll them in schools,” Governor Shettima said.
The governor also said for every child that is enrolled and stays in school, government would ensure their parents receive N10,000 at the end of every month.
Some of the released children told Saturday Tribune that their masters used them mostly as intelligence gatherers either to watch out for the soldiers at their unit and report back when the soldiers are at leisure or sleeping or to go to market to find out where there was money and report back for the older boys to kill soldiers or steal money from their victims.
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