Kidnapped last year by Boko Haram, the 15-year-old was conscripted into its army of child suicide bombers, with orders to blow herself up in a busy marketplace. She ran prison deradicalisation programmes for jailed Boko Haram commanders and their wives, before setting up her own charity, the Neem Foundation, in 2016 to help the tens of thousands who have spent time in camps. “There are thousands of these people now drifting back into cities and refugee camps,” Dr Akilu said. Then there are some who join up because Boko Haram gave them money to start a business. How successful it will be, only time will tell, although Dr Akilu now has an endorsement from one of the group’s jailed commanders.

Source: National Post October 14, 2018 00:22 UTC