Nigeria’s army are in the process of rehabilitating about 800 militants from the Islamist Boko Haram group who have surrendered and shown remorse into society.
The captured suspects, according to a BBC report, would be profiled, documented and offered training in new skills at several camps currently being set up.
The innovative programme, known as Operation Safe Corridor, hopes to persuade others who are still reluctantt to renounce their membership of the Boko Haram group to do so.
This is also an attempt by the army to show that human rights will be respected in future – a key promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari when he came to power last year.
Boko Haram’s seven-year violent acts mostly in the north-eastern part of Nigeria has killed some 17,000 people and forced more than 2.6 million from their homes.
According to the Nigerian Army spokesman, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, there would be two or three camps by the military and the locations of will be made public when they were officially launched in the next few months.
“They will be very big and all facilities will put in place… to rehabilitate them to become good members of society,” he told our correspondent. There are also indications that other government agencies would be involved in the new de-radicalisation programme.
When asked if the repentant militants would be paid whilst they underwent training, Brig Gen Abubakar said: “I believe the government will definitely ask the relevant agencies to do what is needful.”
On the question about whether those who surrendered would be tried or given amnesty, he said that things needed to be taken “pace by pace”.
“The most important thing for us is to have them rehabilitated. Since they have shown remorse and come on board, I think it is our duty to ensure that we help them to become very productive members of this great country,” the army spokesman said.
