DHQ Launches ‘Operation Safe Corridor’ In North-West To Rehabilitate Former Bandits

The Defence Headquarters has inaugurated Operation Safe Corridor in the North-West, with its command centre situated in Tsafe, Zamfara State.

Naija News understands that this initiative is designed to combat insecurity by offering a structured rehabilitation and reintegration process for terrorists who voluntarily lay down their arms.

During the official handover of office facilities for the programme, Governor Dauda Lawal reiterated his administration’s commitment to supporting security measures aimed at tackling criminal activities.

Operation Safe Corridor serves as a specialised military programme providing a reintegration pathway for ex-insurgents and bandits. It is built on five fundamental pillars: Disarmament, Demobilization, De-radicalization, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration.

Initially implemented in the North-East to rehabilitate Boko Haram defectors, the initiative is now being extended to the North-West to address security concerns in states such as Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, and Kaduna.

Speaking at the event, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, represented by the Chief of Training and Operations at Defence Headquarters, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, highlighted the programme’s importance in tackling terrorism and banditry through rehabilitation.

Amb Mairo Abbas, representing National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, urged state governments to establish centres for the families of surrendered insurgents to facilitate their de-radicalization and rehabilitation.

He said, “As we commence the implementation of this programme in the camp, we also need to take cognisance of wives and the children of those repentant bandits.

“The states would need to have a Holding Centre where the women affairs Ministry could be empowered to also give them some sort of de-radicalization and rehabilitation because having lived with the fighters, they also have some kind of ideas of radicalisation of criminal tendencies within them.

“So, it is for us to try as much as possible to also de-radicalize them and rehabilitate them so that they become responsible citizens of this country once more.”

In his keynote address, Governor Lawal acknowledged the initiative’s potential benefits while maintaining that his administration would not engage in negotiations with terrorist groups.

However, he stressed that his government would accept any bandit willing to surrender unconditionally.

The launch of Operation Safe Corridor in the North-West is expected to complement ongoing military efforts aimed at restoring stability in the region.

With its headquarters now established in Zamfara State, security stakeholders remain optimistic that the initiative will help reduce violence and reintegrate ex-fighters who choose to abandon criminality.