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National Directorate of Employment (NDE), former Director, Gavs Katiya, says he and officials of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) were usually forced to take the oath of secrecy before speaking with repented Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria’s north-east.
The retired Director( Gavs Katiya) disclose this when he appeared as a guest on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
It will be recalled that NDE was established in 1986, as a federal agency responsible for tackling unemployment among Nigerian youths, mainly through skill acquisition programmes.
Though Boko Haram fighters have killed tens of thousands of people which includes the death of over 300,000 children since the insurgency began around 2009 in Nigeria’s north-east.
The former President, Muhammadu Buhari, in March 2018, announced his administration’s readiness to accept the “unconditional laying down of arms by any member of the Boko Haram group”.
Former Boko Haram fighters, who have laid down their weapons and are willing to be assimilated into the society, are often referred to as “repented” Boko Haram fighters.
The Former NDE Director, who hails from Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, said he was deployed to the North-east before he retires
Pointing out that the position afforded him and other officials of NOA, opportunity to interact with some repented Boko Haram fighters.
“The first batch of repented Boko Haram fighters 95 of them were brought to my office while I was still the director in NDE.
“So, I interfaced with them because the then Federal government asked us to talk to them, to train them to embrace skills,” he recalled.
“Before we were allowed to talk to them, we had to take an oath that when you finished with them, you don’t have to say, ‘I saw this person. He’s one of the repented Book Haram
He did not revealed the identity of who directed them to take the oath.
The former director now coordinates the Gwoza Resettlement Initiative, a private organisation dedicated to resettling refugees displaced by terrorist attacks in Gwoza.
Recently, Gwoza, which is a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon, , made headlines recently when four female suicide bombers, suspected to be members of Boko Haram, killed over 20 people in the area on Saturday, 29 June.
‘Many residents join Boko Haram group to earn a living.’
Mr Katiya said the Boko Haram insurgency has been thriving in the North-east because “many” residents join the group as a means of livelihood.
The development of Mariga Local Government Area remains my priority
