Local Editor

Dozens of emaciated-looking Boko Haram members begging for food have surrendered in northeast Nigeria, the military and a civilian self-defense fighter said Wednesday.

Seventy-six people including children and women gave themselves up to soldiers last Saturday in Gwoza, about 100 kilometers southeast of Maiduguri, according to a senior officer.

All are being detained at military headquarters in Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and currently the command center of the war against the extremists, according to the officer. He insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

The detainees said many more militants want to surrender, a self-defense civilian fighter who helped escort them to Maiduguri said.

Nigeria's military reported that dozens of Boko Haram militants were surrendering in September and October last year. It promised those who give themselves up voluntarily that they will be rehabilitated through a de-radicalization program.

In the 10 months since he took office promising to halt the insurgency, President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced the leadership of the military, moved the headquarters for the fight from the distant capital, Abuja, to the heart of the northeastern insurgency and resupplied soldiers.

The military has driven the insurgents from the towns and villages where they had set up a caliphate but Boko Haram has returned to hit-and-run tactics and suicide bombings.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team