REPENTED TERRORIST: AN OXYMORON BY VITUS OZOKE

I have not seen a repentant terrorist. Repentance is regretting past wrongs AND committing to actions that show and prove a change for the better. So, it’s a two-part process, and the latter is more important and consequential than the former.

It’s not enough for a terrorist to say he regrets his past actions; after all, anybody can say that. The regret must be accompanied by active, practical, and verifiable steps that, not only contradict the regretted action, but also show a commitment to changed behavior.

Terrorism is not just what terrorists do (the violence, killings, maiming, arson, and general destruction), it is also, even more consequentially, what terrorists believe (a twisted, hateful, and murderous ideology).

Boko Haram literally means western education is evil. As a perverted Islamic ideology, it means western education for women and girls is evil. Show me one so-called repented Boko Haram terrorist who no longer believes that western education (for women and girls) is evil, and who is committed to active 21st century education for women and girls.

It’s funny, but gravely ironic, how an ineptly clueless Nigerian government spends millions of dollars to rehabilitate Boko Haram terrorists, including attempting to give them the same western education against which they killed, maimed, and mayhemed. It’s a wasted effort, even more wasted resources.

So, a repented terrorist is just an oxymoron, and any body who falls for, and buys, that bullshit is a moron. You must first get them to disavow their perverted ideology of Islam. That they are sorry for their past killing campaign does not mean they have repented. If they still believe in what made them kill, they will kill again. Just a matter of time.