The fresh disclosure by the Defence Headquarters that 800 former Boko Haram fighters who voluntarily surrendered to the military are undergoing deradicalisation as part of being re-integrated into society highlights a staggering policy error in the counterinsurgency operation.
During the Morning Brief programme aired on Channels TV, the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Emeka Onumajuru, stated that while 129,000 Boko Haram fighters and their families had so far surrendered to the Army, only a select group had been chosen for rehabilitation.
“To get the numbers right, right now (we have) about 129,000 surrendered Boko Haram members and their families,” Onumajuru said. “Some of them are in detention facilities, some of them are in Kainji, and there is a special court that goes through all of them. Those that were found culpable face the books, and those that are going to be deradicalised go through the process, which takes about a year.”
The feasibility of reintegrating self-described former terrorists into society is a deeply flawed policy and sets back the military’s approach to combating terrorism.
It is difficult to find any country where hardened murderers who have shed blood, and destroyed lives and communities, are unleashed on the population under the guise of “deradicalisation” without facing the judicial consequences of their crimes.
According to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, the Boko Haram insurgency has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people and resulted in the displacement of over two million persons, especially in the North-East.
These terrorists have perpetrated crimes which include suicide bombings, mass abductions, torture, rape, forced marriages, recruitment of child soldiers, destruction of private and public assets, and scores of attacks against the military and civilians as well as traditional and religious leaders.
Although the ultimate purpose of the modern judicial system is to reform deviants, the universal idea of crime and punishment supersedes it. Punishment for severe crimes is necessary for deterrence and should not be abjured by a “deradicalisation” programme that assumes the collective repentance of hardened criminals.
Many terrorists are reared on a nihilist ideology that is intertwined with Salafism. They do not repent in the real sense of the word. While many soldiers fight insurgency to live, Salafist terrorists fight to die with the hope of being rewarded with afterlife debauchery. Such nefarious beliefs are often too deeply ingrained in the recruits’ psyche to allow for sincere “repentance”.
The process of terrorists surrendering to security operatives should be rigorously followed by prosecution before rehabilitation is set in motion.
To flout this is not only a travesty of justice but is also unfair to the individuals and families who have been victims of these bloodthirsty insurgents.
Nigeria should follow the United States Department of Justice’s approach to terrorists, which involves “the prosecution of those accused of committing crimes by terrorist means”.
In the United Kingdom, the Terrorism Act 2000 ensures arrests and pre-charge detention for terrorism cases, including “membership of and support for a proscribed organisation”.
In France, even minors “suspected of having participated in terrorist activities” may face legal action, depending on their ages. In the country, the government is empowered by law to impose additional “administrative” measures for up to five years on adults convicted of certain terrorist activities after their prison release.
Instead of channelling Nigeria’s resources towards “repentant” terrorists, the government needs to ensure that victims of terrorists in Nigeria receive holistic care and social welfare to get their lives back. No criminal should hide under the religious profession of “repentance” to evade the arm of justice.
The government’s counter-terrorism measures should incorporate the use of technological systems for search and seizure of radical materials, and the utilisation of algorithms to analyse internet browsing data to track people recruiting terrorists or radicalising young people and prosecute them accordingly. Suspicious religious places that promote extremism and radical ideologies should be closed.
