Senate has called on the Federal Government to discontinue its policy of rehabilitating and reintegrating repentant Boko Haram members and other insurgents into society, arguing that the programme has failed to address the country’s worsening security situation.
The resolution followed a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua (APC, Katsina), on the escalating attacks, abductions and killings of serving and retired military personnel, including former Director of Defence Information, retired Major General Rabe Abubakar.
During plenary on Tuesday, July 7, lawmakers condemned the rehabilitation of Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and other criminals under the government’s deradicalisation and rehabilitation programmes, with several senators linking the continued insecurity in northern Nigeria to the release of repentant criminals back into society.
The Senate also expressed concern over what it described as a disturbing pattern of attacks targeting serving and retired military officers, warning that the trend poses a serious threat to national security because many of the victims previously occupied sensitive intelligence, operational and command positions.
Among the cases highlighted were the killing of retired Major General Richard Duru in Owerri after a reported $50,000 ransom was paid, the murder of retired Brigadier General O.M. Harlord Udokwere in Abuja, the 56-day captivity of former NYSC Director-General, retired Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga, and the death of retired Major Aja while in captivity in Kogi State. The Senate observed a minute of silence in honour of Major General Rabe Abubakar and other victims of terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and violent crimes across the country.
Lawmakers urged the Federal Government to ensure those responsible for the attacks are arrested and prosecuted while calling on security and intelligence agencies to strengthen intelligence gathering, surveillance, threat assessment and early warning systems. They also urged the government to accelerate the deployment of modern security technologies to combat terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
Nigeria launched Operation Safe Corridor in 2016 as a deradicalisation programme for former Boko Haram fighters who voluntarily surrendered. Initially introduced in the North-East before expanding to parts of the North-West, the initiative is built on five pillars: disarmament, demobilisation, deradicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration.
According to government figures, nearly 10,000 former Boko Haram fighters had been reintegrated into society by 2017, while Borno State reported that about 9,680 ex-fighters had passed through the programme. Although officials have described the initiative as an important component of the country’s counter-insurgency efforts, concerns have persisted over reports that some rehabilitated individuals returned to terrorist groups. However, security analyst and Associate Professor at the University of Namibia, Dr. Babayo Sule, criticised the Senate’s resolution, describing it as “unfortunate” and potentially counterproductive.
“The information or the news I’m just seeing on the resolution of the Senate that the federal government should stop the rehabilitation and deradicalisation policy against violent armed groups in Nigeria, including Boko Haram and bandits, is an unfortunate suggestion,” Sule said. “To me it seems like there is no security expert in the Senate, or if there is, he might be overwhelmed.”
He argued that rehabilitation, reconciliation, disarmament and deradicalisation are internationally recognised components of counter-insurgency strategies and should not be abandoned simply because the programme has recorded shortcomings. “The Nigerian government will not have opted for the choice of deradicalisation except that Nigeria’s security architecture is overwhelmed by the multi-pronged and multidimensional challenges of insecurity across the country,” he said.
Sule recalled that before the introduction of Operation Safe Corridor, the government relied on military offensives, the Joint Task Force, the Multinational Joint Task Force and support from the African Union, but said “almost all the processes adopted by the government failed.”
While acknowledging that the programme has not achieved all its objectives, he insisted it should be improved rather than scrapped. “Our research, which lasted almost five years, showed that something is wrong and it is not heading toward the anticipated results. But that notwithstanding does not in any way mean that it should be abandoned or abolished. I think it is not a wise choice,” he said.
Instead, Sule urged lawmakers to investigate the programme, summon security chiefs to explain operational challenges and provide the logistics needed to strengthen Nigeria’s security response. “What needs to be done is to look at what is wrong, how to amend it and how to make it better. It is even better to expand the programme rather than discard it,” he said. He also rejected claims that the deradicalisation programme was responsible for the resurgence of insecurity, saying research found “no connection between pardon and deradicalisation and the increased insecurity.”
According to Sule, the country’s security challenges are instead driven by “politicisation, negligence, obsolete security infrastructure, corruption and other related issues.” He warned that abandoning the programme altogether could worsen insecurity.
“If the government stops deradicalisation and rehabilitation, it means even the little pathway that has been achieved in terms of peace will be broken. Since there is no capacity so far to overwhelm the terrorists and peaceful negotiation is being discarded, insecurity will escalate further, and we will witness worse than what we are witnessing today,” he said.
