Zuwaira Gambo, Borno state commissioner for women affairs,
says some of the people regarded as repentant Boko Haram members are victims of
insurgency arrested at the wrong place.
In 2016, the military launched Operation Safe Corridor, an
initiative for the de-radicalisation and rehabilitation of ex-Boko Haram
members.
But Gambo said the aim of the initiative was to create
awareness to other members of the insurgent group that if they drop their arms
they have a chance of being accepted into society
She said the term “repentant Boko Haram terrorists gives
wrong signals to members of the public, especially victims of terrorism”.
Speaking at a forum on preventing and countering violent
extremism organised by Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in partnership with UN
Women and the government of Japan in Abuja at the weekend, Gambo also said the
de-radicalisation and reintegration of members of Boko Haram by the Nigerian
government have been misunderstood by the public as a result of a communication
gap between the government and citizens.
“Some of the persons reintegrated are victims who had no
part to play but were arrested in the course of security checks by the military
as they were caught at the wrong time in a wrong place,” she said.
“Because they have spent time in detention between two to
five years, there is need for rehabilitation, counselling and socio-
psychological support.
“We are not saying that there are not some people who have
partaken in destruction of lives and properties but these people are in the
minority and you also have to understand that these set of people joined
involuntarily as they are forced to do so.”
Some soldiers at the war front in the north-east had
expressed disappointment over the release of more than a thousand Boko Haram
suspects.
Onyema Nwachukwu, defence headquarters’ spokesperson, said
the release was in line with Operation Safe Corridor.
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