Military To Release 603 Repentant Terrorists After Rehabilitation

A total of 603 ex-Boko Haram terrorists would be reintegrated into the society by July 2020, under the armed forces concept of Operation Safe Corridor.

Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, John Enenche, disclosed this on Thursday, during a briefing in Abuja.

Enenche also disclosed that a total of 280 ex-Boko Haram terrorists including 2 Chadians have also been successfully reintegrated back into the society through their respective national and state authorities.

Enenche said the concept of Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC) “is that of a unique non-kinetic operation aimed at giving hope to ex-combatants who willingly give up their arms to embrace peace.”

Furthermore, he said it is a Defence Headquarters (DHQ)-led multi-agency humanitarian effort based on De-radicalization, Rehabilitation and Re-Integration (DRR) of the ex insurgents, which was established in September 2015 and became operational in 2016.

According to him, the OPSC, since its inception in 2016, has admitted 893 ex-combatants for the Programme.

He said: “Presently, there are 603 of them undergoing the DRR Programme and would be graduating by July 2020. The Operation is a success story as feedbacks from those reintegrated are positive. A particular one in Bama who learnt barbing as a vocation has successfully empowered 4 locals and is happily married with children.

“Operation SAFE CORRIDOR (OPSC) is guided by among other provisions such as International Humanitarian and Human Rights Laws. It is being administered by 468 staff drawn from 17 organizations including the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), Law Enforcement and Security Agencies, other Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) including North East Development Commission (NEDC) as well as locals from Gombe, where the DRR camp is located. The scheme also enjoys widespread collaboration and support of local and international NGOs.”

The statement listed the key implementation partners as:
United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department For International Development (DFID), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and North-East Regional Initiative (NERI).

It said further “Gleaning from the concept and conduct of Operation SAFE CORRIDOR, it is not a process of assembling raw repentant ex-combatants to inject back into the society by the Military. Rather, it is an international best practice for conflict management backed by relevant laws with the concurrence of key stakeholders such as international organizations and MDAs among others.”