Gombe Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, has canvassed for the admission of repentant Boko Haram fighters into Nigerian Army University located in Biu area of the State.
Yahaya’s request formed part of his address while receiving the General Officer Commanding, 3 Division, also known as Operation Safe Heaven, Maj Gen Ibrahim Ali, at the Government House on Tuesday.
The governor also asked for the relocation of the De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration Camp for repentant Boko Haram members located at Kwami Local Government Area of the state to the Nigerian Army University in Biu.
He said despite providing shelter for the Federal Government’s initiative, the camp had only hosted non-indigenes adding that the state should not be made to suffer for hosting such facility.
The camp, which has rehabilitated hundreds of repentant Boko Haram members mainly from other parts of the North-East, in a facility built by the state government for the National Youth Service Corps as orientation camp.
His word, “Gombe has been hosting the de-radicalisation camp for the past six years. It was meant to be a temporary arrangement for six months, but now, it has turned to be a permanent feature and the security authorities are even looking for expansion. Since the establishment of that outfit, not even one person from Gombe has been taken to for de-radicalisation or rehabilitation. We are just playing host, trying to help our neighbours. As a result, we should not be made to suffer for hosting such a facility.”
Continued: “Otherwise, if you like take it to the military university at Biu, and make it a faculty, that is not our problem. There is the need for us to have a symbiotic relationship. If you scratch our back while we scratch yours; that is the only way we can move forward.”
