Wives of murdered Nigerian soldiers have kicked against the release of Boko Haram insurgents on the grounds of perceived repentance.
The wives under the aegis of Military Widows Association have expressed their anger at the Federal government for releasing insurgents who are responsible for the death of their husbands and many other Nigerians including women and children.
Mrs. Edith Opesanmi, Vice President of the Association made this known at the ‘Support Our Troops Foundation’ in Abuja.
She decried the decision of the federal government to replicate the Militant Amnesty programme with Boko Haram terrorists.
According to her, the terrorists should be treated as the criminals that they are and not enjoy preferential treatment knowing how they murdered gallant soldiers in cold blood.
The Herald recalls that FG has released over 2000 Boko Haram insurgents who have murdered Nigerians, beheaded Christians, kidnapped and raped young girls, carried out suicide bomb attacks with thousands of casualties through a rehabilitation programme codenamed Operation Safe Corridor.
However, this does not augur well for the military widows who believe their husbands may have sacrificed their lives in vain since their killers are walking freely in the society.
“They (terrorists) should face justice. You know they are involved in the killing and maiming of soldiers. So, whenever they are arrested, they should be punished like any other criminal.”
“We widows feel bad about it. Our husbands go to fight these terrorists and keep dying. The number of widows is increasing daily. Some of these widows are young ladies”
Mike Ejiofor, former Director at the Department of State Services (DSS) also faulted the FG for the timing of the release of the insurgents. He stated that it was wrong of FG to release the evil perpetrators when the war against them was still ongoing.
Vanguard quoted Ejiofor saying “Ideally, it is after the war has been fought and won that you can release those ones that have been rehabilitated and deradicalized”