By Paul Adaji (ABUJA) –
An ex-terrorists’ Commander, Adamu Rugurugu, has revealed that top leaders of the Boko Haram group were fond of dispatching ‘low-ranking’ Commanders like him and fighters of the sect, to the battlefield to be killed by Nigerian military troops.
But they (the overbearing leaders) themselves would hide from troops onslaughts in the Northeast, Rugurugu added.
He disclosed this in a video clip, while explaining the ‘soft’ treatment the military authorities in Borno State, have been giving to over 5,000 of their members who renounced Boko Haram, according to a report by PRNigeria.
It quoted the repentant Rugurugu as recalling that their Boko Haram leaders, while still being a member of the sect, did not even carry guns, much less leading their insurgent-members, in battlefronts against their perceived adversaries.
In the video obtained by PRNigeria, the ‘born-again’ Rugurugu, said: “…Those soldiers who pity us without any ill-treatment or molesting us, we pray that God increases them in value. Whoever will bring tension in Nigeria and who doesn’t want peace to reign, may Allah distance him far away from us totally.
“The leaders (top commanders) had mislead us and only God can avenge on our behalf because most of us were forcefully abducted from our homes, marched to Sambisa Forest, conscripted into their evil ideologies, persecuted and ill-treated because there is nothing that we have not seen.
“However, we were mobilized and stationed at Sambisa Forest, busy holding the horn while the leaders (top commanders) are milking the cow.
“Those sipping the milk are different from those holding the horns, we are the ones holding the horns, while they are busy drinking the milk.
“We cheated ourselves, and we will not go back again since God has now delivered us out of this predicament, we returned to the community and soldiers have accepted us.
“The leaders are not attending the battle, it is only the low-ranking members that carry guns, have you ever heard of any ‘Khadi’ or ‘Wazir’ leading the battle on the frontlines? They will say you are doing this thing for the sake of God and when you are killed, paradise will be your final abode, I swear to God this is a scam, you are not going to any paradise.
“Personally, to my brothers who are still inside the forest, we choose to lay our arms and surrender ourselves in order to turn a good leaf.
“You should become a responsible man, everybody will praise you and government is living up to its promise, they are very vigilant, anybody who did not repent and adjust his attitudes, action will surely be taken against him.