Boko Haram members have terrorized Christians for decades in the region, where they have killed thousands and kidnapped females. Most recently, after their leader blew himself up with a bomb to elude capture, thousands of fighters surrendered.
Wendy Wright of Christian Freedom International picks up the story from there: Thousands of fighters put down their AK-47 rifles and surrendered, she says, and now they are living in a town they terrorized.
“The citizens are rightfully fearful,” Wright explains, “that if some of these Boko Haram are not former, but may be in hiding, or may be reignited to terrorize them again.”
The bizarre story was picked up by The New York Times, which reported 7,000 fighters and their families are being housed in a camp next to a school in the village of Maiduguri.
The story quoted one Muslim fighter who said they may fight again if a new leader can organize and rally them again.
A second fighter said he had killed 17 people, and believed the Koran allowed it, but then he heard sermons from another imam who preached against violence and killing.
“I want forgiveness,” the man told the Times. “But I don’t know how God will forgive me.”
Wright tells American Family News she knows the answer: God’s forgiveness comes through Jesus Christ.
“It's only because His son Jesus paid the penalty for our sins,” she says, “that we can find forgiveness with God.”
