By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Reports that former Boko Haram activists are being absorbed into the military have been denied by Aso Rock.
None of the 601 former Boko Haram members who voluntarily laid down their arms, and have recently graduated from the government’s de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programme, is going into the military, the presidency said.
This is the fourth such graduation of repentant Boko Haram fighters and not one of such graduates has been absorbed into the military, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
He gave an assurance that the de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists of the Buhari administration, code named “Operation Safe Corridor,” follows an established example from countries with similar experiences.
Shehu said the programme is supported “academically and materially” by the European Union and the United Nations.
“The lead agency for the implementation of the programme in Gombe is the International Organisation for Migration, a leading inter-government organisation which is represented in Nigeria,” he added.
“It is also important to note that this programme does not have a place for hard boiled, ideologically hardened terrorists.
“It only admits, after careful scrutiny, repentant fighters that were captured and forced to bear arms in the first instance, and there are many who have been drafted by force.”
Shehu explained that at the point of their graduation, a determination is made that the former combatants have repented and are better citizens, imbued with genuine nationalism. “They must no longer represent a danger to society or to themselves.
“Where they are certified as such, communities have the duty of accepting them. Unless they want them to take up arms and resume terrorism from which they have repented, community leaders must work with the relevant agencies to end their rejection.
“The Buhari administration is a responsible one and is conscious of its duty to the state and society, and to the victims of terror as well as to those who inflicted these pains and losses on our people.”