No fewer than 47 male combatants of the dreaded Boko Haram and 22 female suicide bombers are believed to have voluntarily surrendered to the Nigerian government and are now being rehabilitated by the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The cheering news was broken to President Muhammadu Buhari today by the Head of the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Department of the ONSA, Dr. Fatima Akilu, when she briefed the President on the activities of the department at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Dr. Akilu, no fewer than 22 women and girls, recruited as suicide bombers by Boko haram are now undergoing rehabilitation by the CVE after voluntarily embracing the de-radicalization program.
Dr. Akilu said that one of the objectives of the CVE is to reform terrorists and prevent others from joining terrorist organisations and violent sects.
Dr. Akilu said that its non-military approach was running concurrently with the armed onslaught against insurgents in the country, adding that so far, the CVE has rehabilitated no fewer than 305 victims of terrorism rescued from the Sambisa Forest by the Nigerian military.
She said that a National Security Corridor Program has been created to provide a safe route for those who wish to leave Boko Haram voluntarily.
President Buhari commended steps being taken by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and other agencies of government to rehabilitate victims of terrorism and violent extremism in Nigeria.
He emphasised that the Federal Government will continue to do its best to ensure that victims of Boko Haram’s atrocities receive necessary support, even as it strives to rid the country of terrorism and insurgency in the shortest possible time. [myad]