5 days ago
16
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa says over 120, 000 terrorists and their family members have surrendered since the inception of Operation Safe Corridor in 2016.
He said the centre currently has a total of 789 ex-combatants undergoing a re-radicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration programme under the initiative and are expected to graduate this year.
Represented by Chief of Defence Policy and Plan, Air Vice Marshal Sayo Olatunde, the CDS stated this at stakeholders’ meeting aimed at working out modalities for the transfer of the repentant insurgents to their national and state authorities.
General Musa said Operation Safe Corridor was initiated due to the mass surrender of Boko Haram and Islamic State of West African Province members.
He noted that the stakeholders meeting is centered on coming up with modalities to ensure proper reintegration of the first of two batches consisting of 391 insurgents into their states.
The CDS noted that upon graduation from this scheme, each client (insurgent) will be provided with some personal items as well as startup packs based on the trade acquired during their training.
He said this is to enable them to set up small businesses and start a new life.
“Accordingly, I urge benefiting state governments to facilitate the seamless reintegration of the ex-combatants by providing additional support to ease the transition process.
“We are very optimistic that working closely with local and traditional authorities, the state can deploy security apparatus at their disposal to effectively track and monitor the progress of the reintegrated ex-combatants.
“I must emphasize that all stakeholders must be actively involved in this reintegration process to foster resiliency,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, Brig.- Gen. Yusuf Ali, said since the commencement of the Programme in 2016, the programme has successfully processed 2,190 clients (insurgents) comprising 2,163 Nigerians and 27 foreign nationals from Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
“All the foreign clients were transferred to their respective national authorities for reintegration,” he said.
He added that between July and November 2024, a total of 825 clients were transferred to the DRR camp to commence training.
According to him: “Amongst them are14 foreigners from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
“It is also important to mention that 22 clients were subsequently transferred to the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri for further evaluation and management.”
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