Boko Haram’s Rehabilitation: Can Such Address Banditry Too?
For over one decade, Nigeria has faced myriads of security threats posed by Boko Haram terrorists who bombed public facilities and killed a lot of innocent countrymen.
The terror group which started as a religious movement in Borno State later turned into an out an out militant gang that pestered the state with violent atrocities and gradually extended their nefarious acts and violence to different sub-regions in the north including north east and north west.
As a result of their menace, a lot of schools were closed down for the fear of attacks by the anti-western education militants.
DAYLIGHT REPORTERS observed that the Boko Haram terrorists almost made Nigeria ungovernable as they slayed both the security agents and civilians in cold blood.
However, the Nigerian troops comprising the military and police and other vigilante organisations had countered them by waging spirited war to protect their fellow compatriots.
But having observed that the endemic war engulfed huge amount of funds for the nation, the federal government decided to grant amnesty to some repentant insurgents who willingly renounced the gang. Those repentant militants also helped the Nigerian authorities with information that led to the victory over the terrorists.
It is no longer news that the first leader of the Boko Haram sect Muhammed Yusuf was killed by the Nigerian police, his successor, Abubakar Shekau also died in the sambisa forest, his den. Many other commanders of the dreadful group were neutralised by the Nigerian troops.
That development led to the winning of the war against the Boko Haram terrorism. However, to consolidate on the gains, the federal government through the military came up with de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programme for ex members of the terror group with a view to changing their orientation and stopping them from joining similar violent movements in the future.
The rehabilitation programme takes place in Gombe State at Malam Sidi village where a camp manned and protected by the military was designated for that purpose. It is said that the ex terrorists are not only de-radicalised but taught skills at the camp before they are reintegrated into the society.
So far over 2,000 former Boko Haramists were rehabilitated and reintegrated back in the their own communities by the Nigerian armed forces.
Stakeholders have hailed the military for the programme saying it goes a long way in tackling the menace of the religious fanatics.
Editor-in-chief of the ‘Nigerian Spokesman Media’ Mr Emeka Nwankpa and the northern regional rapporteur of a civil society organisation known as ‘Concerned Professionals Congress (CPC) Malam Kasim Baba Kasim lauded the programme at a joint press conference they addressed in Gombe State recently.
They said their visit to the OPSC camp at Mallam Sidi in Gombe State revealed that a lot of Boko Haram combatants who surrendered to the Nigerian military and repented voluntarily undergo rehabilitation at the camp.
The conveners of the press conference also told journalists that the primary objective of the operation is to facilitate easy access and passage for surrendering insurgents to security forces for subsequent de-radicalization, rehabilitation and re-integration opining that without the policy which has maintained a safe corridor for thousands of repentant ex-Boko Haram terrorists, they would have continued to be in the bush.
“However, the good news does not stop there. Here in Mallam Sidi, Operation Safe Corridor has continued to receive them for the programme. So far, a total of 2, 168 have undergone the programme and successfully integrated into the Nigerian society.
“At our meeting with the Camp Commandant, he informed us that so far, no negative report of any their former clients-as repentant ex-Boko Haram combatants are called professionally-has been been done and that where few enquiries were sought from their records, none of them was found wanting because of the intensity, depth, credibility and integrity of the DRR programme which he said many countries have shown huge interest to adopt, for example, Ethiopia which sent top officials last month.”, they pointed out.
Gombe State deputy governor Manasseh Jatau has also commended the rehabilitation programme of de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and re-integration of repentant insurgents.
He made the commendation as the military so far rehabilitated a total of 2,168 ex Boko Haram fighters at the rehabilitation camp at Malam Sidi village of Kwami local government area of Gombe State.
Jatau who served as special guest of honour at the graduation ceremony of special batch 5 and ‘Sulhu’ batch 6, at the camp organised by ‘Operation Safe Corridor’, said the rehabilitation of the repentant insurgents by the military is the right step in the right direction towards giving them a second chance to contribute their positive part to the development of the nation.
He appreciated the role of the federal government, the military, State Governments in the North East, traditional rulers, community and religious leaders for seeing to the reintegration of the the clients.
In his address, the Chief of Defence Staff, and Chairman Operation Safe Corridor, General Christopher Musa, explained that Operation Safe Corridor was set up in furtherance of curbing insurgency that has bedeviled the country especially the North East Sub-region region.
Represented by Major General Sani Mohammed Ahmed, the Chief of Defence Staff noted that Operation Safe Corridor has over the years trained and integrated 2,168 former terrorists into the society.
He enjoined the people to disregard the insinuations that after the integration ‘the insurgents are later absorbed into the army, police and other paramilitary agencies’ pointing out that there are steps put forward to monitor the activities of the integrated persons.
He appealed to the North East governors to always include the the activities of Operation Safe Corridor in their meetings, and members of the public to support the scheme with a view of fulfilling their mandate.
In their separate remarks the Coordinator, Operation Safe Corridor, Brigadier General S. Adamu and Commandant De-radicalization Rehabilitation and Re-integration , Operation Safe Corridor, stated that in the course of the training, the clients are taught skills like shoe making, tailoring, carpentry, laundry, barbing and wielding.
One of the repentant insurgents, Mohammed Goni appreciated the opportunity given to them by the government to be integrated back to the society pledging to abide by their repentance and oath of allegiance as well as use their starter packs judiciously.
As Boko Haram terrorism seems to be over now, the country is however grappling with bandits who kidnapped innocent citizens for ransom payments. They also obstruct farming activities in vulnerable areas and kill people.
Now, the question is, can the military adopt the same approach they used in tackling Boko Haram to end banditry by using both force and conducting de-radicalisation to the Fulanis who indulge in banditry?
