The escapees are among thousands of former Boko Haram fighters and their families who had surrendered to the government.
Thirteen ex-fighters of the Jama'tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JASDJ), popularly known as Boko Haram, have escaped with rifles and motorcycles given to them by the Borno State government, which co-opted them to join military operatives in the fight against the insurgents in the state.
The 13 are among thousands of former Boko Haram fighters and their families who had surrendered to the government.
Last year, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum revealed that more than 160,000 Boko Haram members and their families had voluntarily surrendered to the military amid a sustained military onslaught.
The "repentant" Boko Haram members and their families are being managed under the Borno Model, a post-conflict amnesty programme with a focus on deradicalisation, rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement of low-risk persons previously associated with armed insurgent groups.
Sources familiar with the programme told PREMIUM TIMES that nearly 6,000 combatants are awaiting "transitional justice." They added that the Borno State Government further co-opted some of the ex-fighters into the fight against insurgency, helping the military to penetrate deep into the terrorists' enclaves.
These "repentant" fighters have now become helpful to the military. They are popularly known as "hybrid forces."
Transitional justice is one of the key steps identified in the Borno Model policy aimed at facilitating truth, reconciliation, justice and peace building in the community, according to a document seen by our reporter.
The 13 ex-fighters who escaped with rifles
The Nigerian military in Borno State formed "hybrid forces" with some of these former combatants because of their previous ties with the insurgents and their knowledge of the insurgents' enclaves. Together, they have conducted joint operations to locate and destroy Boko Haram weapons caches, rescue hostages, and fight the remaining jihadists.
"Their involvement has significantly helped the military," a defence journalist in the state told our reporter. "They have led the troops into the hideouts of the terrorists where the military recovered a large amount of ammunition around the Timbuktu axis."
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the military provides the ex-fighters with sophisticated rifles, motorcycles, and ammunition for joint counterinsurgency operations. According to our sources, these weapons are always recovered from them after any operation.
Unfortunately,13 of them attached to the military operatives in Mafa escaped from their camp between the 1st and 2nd of September, Malik Samuel, a researcher with a deep understanding of jihadi groups in northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region, told our reporter.
Mr Samuel, a senior researcher with Good Governance Africa, said eight ex-fighters first escaped from the camp on 1 September before five others followed suit the next day.
He said the escapees called Abdullahi Ishaq, a special adviser to the government on security matters, threatening to unleash more violence.
After their escape, the jubilant terrorists released a video brandishing the rifles.
Mr Ishaq, a retired brigadier general who promoted the Borno Model programme, could not be reached for comments. He did not respond to calls and messages sent via SMS and WhatsApp. Also, calls and messages sent to the Acting Deputy Director of the army's operations in Borno, Operation Hadin Kai, Rugben Kovangya, and the Borno State Commissioner for Information & Internal Security, Usman Tar, were not responded to.
Why did they leave, and where did they go?
This is not the first time ex-fighters and their families who surrendered would return to their previous lives, multiple sources, including Mr Samuel, told PREMIUM TIMES.
They said this was worrisome because it seemed planned.
"The reason for their exit may have to do with the management of the Borno Model programme," a source familiar with the workings of the programme said in confidence. "These guys were promised many things... about skill acquisition, stipends, a better life and reintegration into the society, but not many of these promises have been kept by the government."
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The "repentant" terrorists and their families had staged protests, as seen here and here, decrying poor planning [by the government] and demanding better welfare and a clear reintegration procedure.
According to Mr Samuel, the terrorists fled to Darul Gazuwa, a renegade Boko Haram faction led by a senior commander, Alhai Kale. The group, Mr Samuel said, terrorises villagers around Bama, Konduga, Mafa and Dikwa.
PREMIUM TIMES understands that the escapees risk death if they return to Boko Haram enclaves in Mandara Mountain, which Ali Ngulde controls, or the Barwa Island, where Bakura Doro, the overall Boko Haram leader, holds sway.
"Hence they chose to go to the Alhai Kale-led Darul Gazuwa faction," Mr Samuel explained, adding the renegade faction, although disagrees with Mr Doro's leadership, "they are still technically part of JASDJ."
The group mainly specialises in kidnapping-for-ransom and highway robbery, Mr Samuel noted, adding "economic reasons contributed to the recidivism."
