THE Federal Government of Nigeria has said that there is no plan to recruit the surrendered Boko Haram and the Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists into the Nigerian military.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, who gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Washington, described claims in certain quarters that the surrendered insurgents would be recruited into the Nigerian military as false and demoralizing.

Mohammed warned those spreading negative and false narratives around the terrorists who were surrendering in droves in the North-East to desist from doing so.

He said rather than changing the narratives, President Muhammadu Buhari and the military should be commended for their resourcefulness and doggedness respectively in the fight against insurgency.

“The fact that we are witnessing insurgents submitting in droves calls for the commendation of our military for their doggedness,” he said.

“We must not forget that two months ago, Nigerians were putting pressure on the president to recruit mercenaries to fight the war against terror because they said we were losing the war.

“The president, however, remained focused and confident in his belief in the Nigerian military have what it takes to defeat the insurgents. We thank God that Mr President today has been proven right.

“We were able to achieve this, largely because of the leadership of Mr President in providing the wherewithal continually to the military and ensuring that their fighting morale is sustained by way of welfare packages.’’