Freedom came for 42 Boko Haram suspects on Thursday as authorities of 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Maiduguri handed them over to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State.
While handing over the freed suspects, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, averred that they were “released because we found out that they have nothing to do with Boko Haram activities.”
He said further,“Out of the 42 suspects cleared by the military this month, three are from the neighboring countries of Burkina Faso, Chad and Cameroon.”
Even more, the sum of One Hundred Thousand Naira(N100,000) was given to each of the freed suspects to assist in their resettlement.
While receiving the freed suspects, Governor Shettima pledged not to allow them to be idle.“An idle mind they say is the devils’ workshop, therefore we cannot allow you people to be idle. From your introduction, some of you are drivers, others are tailors and some are students. All the drivers would be immediately engaged by the state government and the tailors too will be useful for our free uniform for school children”,Shettima said.
The governor made a commitment to ensure that the students among them have an opportunity to continue with their education.“For the students, I am going to assist you to go back and complete your studies. Others will also be taken care of appropriately”
Authorities said the foreigners from Burkina Faso,Cameroun and Chad among the freed men would be repatriated with immediate effect.
