ABUJA – At least 390 repentant Boko Haram terrorists graduated from the Nigeria’s De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) programme in the northeastern state of Gombe, the country’s defense chief announced on Thursday.
The graduating “repentant terrorists” arrived at the camp in Malam Sidi in the Kwami Local Government Area in July 2024 and went through various rebuilding activities of the programme, which reshaped them and made them ready for reintegration into society, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa said during the graduation ceremony.
Represented by Maj.-Gen. Sunday Makollo, Musa said that the non-kinetic approach by the federal government is positively impacting military operations in the Northeast.
He spoke about the army’s commitment toward tackling security challenges in the country and ensuring peace and security.
He urged the graduating ex-terrrorists to be agents of peace in their respective communities while warning them against violating the oath they took and their allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
On his part, Col. Abiodun Johnson, the Commandant of the DRR Camp, Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC), said that the ex-terrorists comprised six foreigners and 384 Nigerians who had been rehabilitated and were ready for reintegration into the society.
Johnson said, “A further breakdown of the 390 clients shows 13 clients hailed from Adamawa, one from Akwa-Ibom, 19 from Bauchi State, 218 from Borno, one from Cross River, one from Edo, five from Gombe, and five from Jigawa.
“Others are 15 from Kaduna State, 14 from Kano State, seven from Katsina State, three from Kebbi, five from Kogi, two from Nasarawa, five from Niger, one from Osun and two from Oyo.
“Four from Plateau, five from Sokoto State, three from Taraba, 47 from Yobe and eight from Zamfara.
“The foreign clients include one from Cameroon, one from Chad and four from the Niger Republic.
“Similarly, six clients are Christians and 384 are Muslims. This information is essential for management planning and the reintegration process,” he said.
He explained that during the DRR programme, the clients were trained in various skills of their choice, ranging from welding, tailoring, carpentry, bakery, laundry and electrical repairs, among others.
He said that the training was to quicken their reintegration into society and discourage them from going back to crimes.
The camp commandant said that the clients had confessed their past, denounced their membership in the insurgent group and sworn an oath of allegiance to be loyal, obedient and responsible citizens.
Mrs Zubaida Umar, the Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said the Federal Government is committed to addressing insecurity in the country.
Umar commended the resilience of the armed forces for using kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism in the country.
She lauded President Bola Tinubu for the political will and for approving the expansion of OPSC to cover the six geopolitical zones, especially with the inclusion of the North-West and the establishment of a DRR camp in Zamfara State.
Umar, represented by NEMA’s Director of Search and Rescue, Air Cdr. Abang Oyong, donated food and non-food items to the clients.
According to her, the items will help to stabilise them after the DRR programme and enable their seamless reintegration into society.
Each of the “repentant terrorists” got a starter pack according to their area of training and ₦50,000, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.
The items donated include 400 bags of rice (25kg), 400 bags of maize (25kg), 400 bottles of vegetable oil, 40 cartons of seasoning, and 40 cartons of tomato paste.
Others are 20 bags of iodised salt, 400 pieces of bath towels, 800 pieces of plastic plates, and 800 pieces of plastic spoons.
KOIKI Media cited a report last week that Nigerian authorities have released 2,163 former Boko Haram terrorists in nine years, with the latest 390 more insurgents to increase this number to 2,553.
These thousands who have engaged in acts of terror have found a path, made by the government, through which they can escape prosecution.
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