On reintegration of repentant terrorists
Sir: Nigeria’s riveting battle against insecurity continues to throw up wave after wave of controversy, with the latest being the reintegration of 744 so-called repentant terrorists into society. As expected,
- By Kene Obiezu
Sir: Nigeria’s riveting battle against insecurity continues to throw up wave after wave of controversy, with the latest being the reintegration of 744 so-called repentant terrorists into society. As expected, the decision, which is a brainchild of Operation Safe Corridor, has kicked up a noxious cloud of controversy, with many Nigerians horrified that their killers are about to be let loose into the society.
While there is certainly some argument to be made in favour of the reintegration, the question must be asked: at what point does public opinion actually begin to sway such decisions, especially when the opinion is framed by those who have felt first-hand, the chilling consequences of terrorism?
The tension around the controversial decision to de-radicalize, rehabilitate, and reintegrate repentant terrorists into the society is almost as old as the war against terrorism itself. The idea was first mooted and took form under the Muhammadu Buhari presidency. The program is Nigeria’s attempt to try something else alongside outright force in what is a gripping national battle against terrorism. Many terrorists who surrendered have been put through the program, but its success or otherwise remains very much a subject for debate, especially as Nigeria does not exactly appear to be winning the war against the terrorists.
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For many Nigerians, their concerns do not stop at giving terrorists a second chance because, for example, while Nigeria attends to the terrorists with something approaching trepidation in well-appointed camps and conditions, IDPs displaced by insecurity languish in squalid camps where the prospects of a better life grow bleaker by the day.
While Nigeria’s military authorities continue to treat so-called repentant terrorists with tremulous trepidation, they continue to launch attack after attack on vulnerable communities. With reports of terrorists penetrating Nigeria’s security architecture, what stronger evidence exists out there to show that this repentance is no ruse?
In a critical war against terrorism, Nigeria’s military establishment may not be compelled to divulge military tactics and secrets to Nigerians, but what metrics are being used to determine repentance and de-radicalization, or is an exhausted country simply seeking shortcuts?
Is the messaging, which is so critical at such a crucial moment, for the terrorists or their long-suffering victims? Something needs to happen to press home the reality that Nigeria is losing the war against terrorism.
Let the Nigerian government and military authorities get the message clear: Without justice, Nigerians do not wish to ever live side by side with terrorists whose repentance is more a tale to regale military authorities than reality. Nigerians will not want to be re-traumatized again.
•Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com.
