TheCable

About 594 ex-insurgents have begged Nigerians for forgiveness over the roles they played in destabilising communities in the country.

The ex-insurgents made the plea during their six-month De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) graduation ceremony in Kwami LGA, Gombe state.

DRR is a rehabilitation programme for ex-insurgents run by the Nigerian Army, under Operation Safe Corridor.

According to Uche Nnabuihe, the camp commandant, three of the ex-insurgents were from Niger Republic and one from Chad.

Nnabuihe said six of the “deradicalised” insurgents are Christians.

The camp commandant said 15 of the ex-insurgents were from Adamawa, Borno, 495; Kano, 16; Yobe, 16; Kaduna, 13; Gombe, 3 and one from Kogi.

Mnabuihe added that 12 of the ex-insurgents were from Bauchi, five each from Jigawa and Katsina, four from Kebbi, one each from Nasarawa and Plateau, and two from Zamfara.

Muhammad Abba, one of the graduands who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said the programme has equipped them with more knowledge on religious tolerance and maintaining peace in a society.

“We apologise to Nigerians and our various state governments, our communities, and everyone seated here should extend our apology to all and sundry in the various communities we came from,” NAN quoted Abba to have said.

“We are very sorry and we are not going back to this atrocity. We have taken the oath of allegiance to our peaceful and lovely country, Nigeria.

“We know the consequences of taking an oath with the Qur’an or the Holy Bible. Whenever you betray your oath, God will not be happy and He will also punish you. Even if you escape the security agencies of Nigeria, you cannot escape the wrath of God.”

Abba added that the ex-insurgents would remain loyal and faithful to Nigeria and work towards the peace and stability of the country.

“Now that we have been trained and going back to our respective societies, we will always extend our hands of peace and love to everyone, because we have understood that there is no culture or belief that is greater than being human,” he said. 

“We have learnt a lot on religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence in the society; without peace, a child that says his mother will not sleep, he too will not sleep.”