Repentant Boko Haram fighters have called on their former colleagues who are still in the Sambisa forest to surrender their arms to military authorities and embrace peace.

They made this known on Wednesday in Maiduguri when the army authorities presented them to newsmen.

One of them, Joseph David, who is popularly known by his alias, Ibrahim Alhaji, said the fighters should disregard what their leaders told them that they will all be killed if they surrendered.

“I have chosen to lay down my arms to allow peace reign in the country,” he said, adding that “We have been accepted by the Nigerian Government, contrary to what we were told by the sect leaders.”

Another suspect whose name was withheld also appealed to the rest of the sect members to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

He said: “The sect leaders told us not to surrender to the government because we will be killed, but to our surprise, nothing happened to us.

“The Nigerian government has accepted us and is taking good care of us.”

Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Lucky Irabor, told journalists that the insurgents were among ten repented boko haram fighters who recently surrendered to the army authorities.

He said that four of them were from Mamman Nur’s camp, while six were from the Shekau faction.

The army commander added that the repentant sect members would undergo a de-radicalization programme in order to enable them become responsible citizens when they are eventually reintegrated into the society.

“We are doing our part to see that this madness is reduced to the barest minimum,” he said.

Irabor also said that more than 1,400 people had been rescued by the military in the last one week as the new counter-insurgency operation codenamed “Operation Rescue Finale” continues.