Authorities say there are seeing an increase in the number of Boko Haram militants surrendering at a disarmament center on the northern border with Nigeria. Officials say there have been hundreds of defections from the terrorist group since May, when Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Islamist group, was declared killed. The National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, or the DDR, a center set up by the government, hosts about 750 former militants in Meri, a town on the northern border with Nigeria. The government of Cameroon has provided space in Meme, another northern town not far from Nigeria, for the construction of a center that can host 1,500 former Boko Haram fighters. He said funds to construct the DDR center are available and construction work will begin soon.
SOURCE: VOA