Aisha Wakil, popularly known as Mama Boko Haram for her close ties to the insurgents, has expressed confidence that the terrorist group will surrender their arms and return home, according to the Sun.

Speaking at a fund raising ceremony for her NGO in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Saturday, Wakil said the insurgents were willing to give up their arms,  indicating that they would soon return home.

“All my sons in the bush will come home and surrender for peace,” she said.

She assured that she will continue to support efforts to bring peace to Borno State which has been the epicentre of Boko Haram’s terrorist activities.

“I will not relent in my mediating role to ensure everybody in Boko Haram bondage is released.”

As a guest on AIT’s Focus Nigeria last month, Wakil said she had earned the confidence of the insurgents because they came to the realisation that she is genuinely advocating for their best interest.

She reiterated that majority of the Boko Haram fighters had told her in confidence that they would like to come out of the bush and reunite with their families.

“They said they want to come back home, stay with their wives, in their hometowns and do genuine business. These are their words,” Wakil said.

“There was even a time I asked them, ‘do you need any country you can go to?’ They said no, we want to stay in our village.

“So it means, honestly, that they really want this peace. So let government just come down to the roots and talk to them.”