LAGOS, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Plans have been concluded to sensitize communities in restive northeast Nigeria of repentant Boko Haram members to accept them back, the government said Friday.
The exercise would be carried out in Maiduguri and Goza communities in northeast Borno, Musa Shantu, a director with the country's National Orientation Agency (NOA) said in Abuja, the nation's capital.
The sensitization became necessary because of the challenges faced by repentant Boko Haram members who had undergone de-radicalization and were ready to be reintegrated into their communities, he added.
Getting back into the society had become difficult for most of them as some members of their communities had developed negative perceptions about them, Shantu told reporters.
According to him, the NOA will dialogue with members of the communities to reassure them that the repentant insurgents have been de-radicalized and changed.
He told reporters that while many of the repentant Boko Haram members wanted to go back to their own communities of origin, others preferred other communities.
The director said some of the ex-combatants were victims because they were forcefully recruited when their villages and towns were invaded.
Boko Haram has been blamed for the death of more than 20,000 people and displacement of 2.3 million others in Nigeria since 2009.
