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Reintegration of repentant Boko Haram members not serving its purpose —Zulum

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Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum says the reintegration of repentant Boko-Haram members into the society needs to be urgently reviewed because some of them return to the insurgent group as spies.

The military had in 2016 launched Operation Safe Corridor initiative to deradicalise and rehabilitate members of the terror group.

The governor who spoke on Thursday in Bauchi, said, “Another aspect of the war against the insurgency that needs to be urgently reviewed or modified, is the issue of deradicalisation of Boko Haram terrorists, who have been captured or have willingly surrendered themselves to the authorities,” he said.

“It has been confirmed that the concept of deradicalisation or Safe Corridor is not working as expected. Quite often, those who have passed through the Safe Corridor initiative, or have been deradicalised, usually go back and rejoin the terror group after carefully studying the various security arrangements in their host communities, during the reintegration process.

Read also: Like Nigeria, Cameroon begins rehabilitation of repentant Boko Haram insurgents

“In addition, the host communities where the reintegration process is going on usually resent the presence of Boko Haram terrorists, even if they have been deradicalised, because of the despicable and atrocious activities they have committed in the past.

“So the idea of deradicalisation, as currently being implemented, needs to be reviewed because the main goals and the underlying objectives behind the initiative are not being achieved.”

The governor advised that the best option is to without delay prosecute the insurgents in accordance with the terrorism Act.

“On the prosecution of terrorists, we must make efforts to avoid the current encumbrances and intricacies associated with the process, which usually takes considerable time, by urging the appropriate federal authorities to devolve the powers of the minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation to state attorneys-general in order to facilitate the prosecution process,” he said.

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