Kashim Shettima, said he was given 5,000 Naira to burn our school," an
official of the Borno State government told Channels Television on
Saturday.
The Special Assistant to the Borno State Government on Communication,
Mr Isa Gusau, said that the nine-year old recruit made the confession
in 2014 after some suspected terrorists were presented over to the
Borno State government by the military.
Giving an account of what transpired when the suspects were presented
to the Governor, he said: "The Governor asked one of them how come he
was recruited into the Boko Haram. He was just nine years old.
"He said he was given 5,000 Naira to spy on the soldiers while another
said he was given 5,000 Naira to burn our schools.
"There was another lady who was being paid 10,000 Naira to smuggle
arms," Mr Gusau.
On the military effort to end the activities of the Boko Haram
terrorists, he said that the Governor of Borno State had always
suggested the deployment of three approaches – military deployment,
deployment of economic stimulation package and political solution.
"People are talking from the point of sentiments. We are not looking
at the reality on ground.
"We need to ask ourselves, why the Boko Haram has kept growing despite
the counter-terrorism operations?
Mr Gusau further explained that it had become difficult for persons
that had been recruited into the Boko Haram to reintegrate into their
communities.
"When they are recruited, the leaders of the group take them to their
communities to attack them and people in the community will see them
as members of the Boko Haram and will never allow them back, even when
they want to come back.
"The government must create a window for those who were forcefully
conscripted into the Boko Haram to get out," he stressed.
--ChannelsTV
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