Military Confirms 800 Former Boko Haram Members In Deradicalisation Programme

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has revealed that 800 ex-Boko Haram fighters who surrendered to the military are currently undergoing deradicalisation as part of efforts to reintegrate them into society.

This was disclosed by the Chief of Defence Operations, Maj.-Gen. Emeka Onumajuru, during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday.

According to Onumajuru, the rehabilitation process under Operation Safe Corridor is designed to take approximately one year, which he believes is adequate time for reorienting and reintegrating the former insurgents.

He noted that while about 129,000 Boko Haram fighters have surrendered, only 800 have been selected for the deradicalisation programme.

Clarifying the figures, he stated, “To get the numbers right, right now, (we have) about 129,000 surrendered BH (Boko Haram) members and their families. We are a professional army, and when you are in combat and an opponent surrenders, then you take him and let the legal processes take its natural course.”

He further explained the different categories of surrendered individuals: “Right now, some of them are in detention facilities, some of them are in Kainji, and there is a special court that goes through all of them. Those that were found culpable face the books, and those that are going to be deradicalised go through the process, and this takes about a year.”

Possibility of Rehabilitation Within A Year

When asked whether a year is sufficient to deradicalise and reintegrate former insurgents, Onumajuru responded, “It’s possible because the deradicalisation is done by professionals. That one-year period is sufficient enough depending on the people handling the deradicalisation.”

He reiterated that only a fraction of the total surrendered individuals are undergoing the programme, saying, “The number taken in is not huge. Like I said, we have 129,000 BH members and families. It doesn’t mean the 129,000 are going through the programme.

“The people going through the programme right now are about 800 – in batches. Those 800 are people that have been sieved through the entire legal process before they are now brought to the centre.”

Onumajuru also stressed the importance of combining both military action and non-military approaches to effectively combat insurgency.

He highlighted the role of deradicalisation in counterinsurgency efforts, stating, “The deradicalisation carried out by the Operation Safe Corridor is part of the non-kinetic. You cannot win an asymmetrical war with just kinetic approach.”