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A total of 117 former insurgents have completed the de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration programme under Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC), an initiative of the Nigerian Government in Borno state.
Samaila Uba, Director of Defence Information, revealed this in a statement released on Thursday. Uba said Y. Ali, the OPSC coordinator, announced this during a stakeholders’ meeting held by the defence headquarters in Abuja.
The meeting was attended by representatives of federal ministries, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), state governments, neighbouring countries, and international partners, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), among others.
The OPSC coordinator said the repentant terrorists underwent the rehabilitation programme at Mallam Sidi Camp and are fit for reintegration.
The Chief of Defence Staff, represented by Jamal Abdusalam, Chief of Defence Operations, reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to peacebuilding and national recovery. He described OPSC as a critical pillar of Nigeria’s security architecture, adding that structured rehabilitation and reintegration prevent the recycling of violence in Nigeria, which has been swarmed in a decade-long insurgency.
“Since its inception in 2016, Operation Safe Corridor has processed thousands of clients through a controlled and integrity-driven disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration framework,” he said.
The rehabilitation of repentant insurgents in Nigeria has drawn mixed emotions from various groups. On one hand, some reports and officials highlight that rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, like Operation Safe Corridor, have helped former fighters leave violence behind.
Others are sceptical of such programmes and argue that reintegration without proper rehabilitation and monitoring can be risky and undermine community trust, especially if former combatants might rejoin violence, spy, recruit, or re-engage in attacks.
