Ibrahim Mohammed, 32, had spent years deep in the vast forests of Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State as a jihadist fighter when a video message from his mother changed everything.
A 2009 uprising by the Boko Haram group triggered Nigeria’s ongoing insurgency, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 3 million.
“I received a video message from my mother. She pleaded with me to leave the group, lay down my arms, and return home,” Mohammed told AFP on Friday at a ceremony to mark the end of a rehabilitation programme for former jihadist fighters in Borno’s capital, Maiduguri, the epicentre of the 17-year-long insurgency.
“It touched me deeply. I realised that my family still cared about me and wanted me back. That was when I decided to leave the bush and surrender.”
Mohammed was among about 720 former fighters who recently completed a state government rehabilitation programme, part of non-military efforts to counter the insurgency.
