608 Repentant Boko Haram Insurgents Currently Undergoing Rehabilitation

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The military authority says no fewer than 608 repentant Boko Haram insurgents are currently undergoing De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) Programme by Operation Safe Corridor (OSC) at Malam-Sidi, Gombe State.

Brig:- Gen. Musa Ibrahim, Commandant DRR Camp OSC made this known when the Managing Director, North East Development Commission (NEDC), Mr Mohammed Alkali visited the camp on Saturday.

He said 14 of the repentant insurgents were foreigners from Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic.

Ibrahim said: “From inception, we received 893 out of which 286 graduated and were returned to their respective states and countries for reintegration’’.

He said the personnel in the camp were working diligently with the mandate of OSC in conformity with international best practices.

According to him, the success of the programme will go a long way in restoring peace and security to the North East in particular and the country as a whole.

Ibrahim said the programme was in need of five Hilux vans, additional vocational center, accommodation for camp staff and clients, and prompt release of funds to run the power generator among others.

In his remarks, Alkali said the purpose of his visit was to have an on the spot appreciation of how the programme has been run.

He said NEDC would do everything possible to ensure that the programme succeeded by providing them with facilities needed.

‘`Mr President established this organisation and the NEDC with the mandate to make sure peace came back to the region as it was before in terms of development’’, he said.

He, therefore, urged unrepentant insurgents who were still in the bushes causing mayhem to come and embrace peace and live a normal life.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Alkali also interacted with the repentant insurgents and inspected the camp facilities.

NAN reports that a cross-section of the clients expressed delight in the Federal Government intervention to rehabilitate them even after collateral damages they had caused the country

https://m.guardian.ng/news/608-repentant-boko-haram-insurgents-currently-undergoing-rehabilitation-says-military/

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God help us oo

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Nigeria government and Nigeria people

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'FG is setting our killers free’– soldiers kick as 1,400 Boko Haram suspects are released

Some soldiers at the war front in the north-east have expressed disappointment over the release of 1,400 ”repentant” Boko Haram suspects.

Babakura Jato, commissioner of information in Borno state, on Monday, told The PUNCH that 1,400 had been released in three tranches since Operation Safe Corridor programme was launched.

Operation Safe Corridor is an initiative for the deradicalisation and rehabilitation of all ex-Boko Haram members.

Jato said the majority of them are cleared suspects.

“These were people who were suspected of being members of Boko Haram and it was discovered that they were not,” he said.

“The rest are children of Boko Haram or actual Boko Haram members. I cannot give you a breakdown of the figure now for security reasons.”

He also said he was aware of the allegation that some of those released had gone back to terrorism, but he added that some of these claims were mere speculation.

Reacting to the development, soldiers, who confirmed the release of the suspects to TheCable on Tuesday, said they did not understand why suspected Boko Haram members are being released in large numbers.

“A lot of soldiers are not happy about this. We were there at the Maimalari barracks when some of these Boko Haram people were released,” one of the soldiers said.

“The authorities are releasing them, but Boko Haram are killing soldiers that they capture. This does not make sense to us at all. We continue to sweep across the bushes to flush these people out, and then the government will release them. Does that not amount to wasted efforts?”

Another soldier said he believes most of the released suspects find their way back to crime.

“You wonder why Boko Haram members are on the increase? When we arrest them and bring them here, some top people would come and start negotiating their release. But, I will tell you some of these so-called suspects are returning to the bush and they were never repentant.”

Speaking with TheCable on the matter, Onyema Nwachukwu, defence headquarters’ spokesperson, said the releases were in line with Operation Safe Corridor.

“We’ve made some releases, that’s the truth. We should know what the operation is about. But take note, it’s not that we capture Boko Haram suspects and then go back and release them. No,” he said.

The operation he said is under the direct supervision of the defence headquarters and managed in conjunction with 13 civil organisations.

“The civil organisations involved in the operation include UNICEF, International Office on Migration (IOM) and relevant government ministries and security agencies. Not left out of the oversight structure of the operation is the Gombe state govt where the DRR facility is located. As a testimony to the effectiveness of the Safe Corridor initiative, so far, about 800 ex Boko Haram fighters who would have unleashed unimaginable terror on citizens have been admitted and out of which 287 of them have been successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, with many still undergoing the DRR programme,” he said.

At the launch of the operation in 2016, the military said the aim is to rehabilitate and reintegrate repentant Boko Haram members back into society.

https://www.thecable.ng/fg-is-setting-our-killers-free-soldiers-kick-as-1400-boko-haram-suspects-are-released

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Why we are rehabilitating and reintegrating ex-Boko Haram members - Borno commissioner for women affairs, Zuwaira Gambo






Borno state commissioner for women affairs, Zuwaira Gambo has revealed why they are rehabilitating people considered as repentant Boko Haram members after their arrest. 
 
Speaking at a forum on preventing and countering violent extremism organised by Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in partnership with UN Women and the government of Japan in Abuja over the weekend, Gambo admitted that the term "repentant Boko Haram terrorists" gives wrong signals to members of the public especially victims of terrorism. 
 
The commissioner who stated that the de-radicalisation and reintegration of Boko Haram members have been misunderstood by the public as a result of a communication gap between the government and citizens, averred that some of the arrested terrorists were at the wrong place at the wrong time and were also forced to join the terrorist group. 
 
She said; 
 

“Some of the persons reintegrated are victims who had no part to play but were arrested in the course of security checks by the military as they were caught at the wrong time in a wrong place. 

“Because they have spent time in detention between two to five years, there is need for rehabilitation, counselling and socio- psychological support.

“We are not saying that there are not some people who have partaken in destruction of lives and properties but these people are in the minority and you also have to understand that these set of people joined involuntarily as they are forced to do so.”