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By Francesca Hangeior

A repentant female Boko Haram member who underwent deradicalisation and resettled in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno, Fatima Musa, says she regrets shredding into pieces her National Diploma Certificate (NCE).

Musa made this known in Maiduguri during a community dialogue on understanding, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence organised for the repentants and community leaders of Mafa.

She was speaking during a dialogue organised by a community-based NGO, Allamin Foundation, with support from the British Government under the UKaid.

Musa, who was deradicalized with other repentant women by the foundation, said many of them joined the insurgency at a young age after they were misled.

“We were misled as young people through the use of religion and later discovered that we went the wrong way after being deradicalized by the foundation.

”We met with clerics who put us on the right track regarding Islam. We are now mature and more knowledgeable about Islam and the teachings of the Holy Prophet that promote peace and tolerance.

“I regret tearing my NCE certificate up when I made the mistake of accepting the twisted ideology that western education was Haram.

”One of my prayers for now is to reach out to my father, who is now in a neighbouring country, to beg for his forgiveness for joining the sect against his wish,” she said.

Also speaking at the dialogue, another deradicalized female, who identified herself as Bintu, pleaded for forgiveness from the people of Mafa and urged for support to the foundation to reach out to more women and men in the bush.

Bintu pointed out that a few cases of some repentants returning to the bush had to do with stigma and harassment by some people, telling them that they were doomed for hellfire in spite of their repentance.

“If you keep telling people they are doomed, they’ll say since there’s no forgiveness, they had better go back and continue.

“Some of the surrendered have easy money, and others loot in the bush. They are struggling for survival with other citizens in their communities.

“Such repentants need to be encouraged to start a new life to sustain it,” Bintu said.

Some residents of Mafa who also spoke at the meeting urged government to do more on the deradicalisation and resettlement process through more empowerment support to victims and those that repented in line with transitional justice.

The leader of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Mafa, Babagana Butu, said members now include some of the repentant insurgents.

”We patrol the area together. We provided them with farmlands to cultivate like everyone else as part of the reintegration process.

“We want the government to also remember them in its empowerment programmes to enable them to sustain themselves and their families as well as contribute positively to society,” Butu said.

In her remarks, the Executive Director of the foundation, Hajiya Hamsatu Allamin, said the dialogue was organised to discuss issues arising from the reintegration process and the way forward regarding challenges faced.