On re-integration of ex-Boko Haram felons into society

ON Saturday 25th July, 2020, the Nigerian Army announced that 601 ex-Boko Haram soldiers would be re-integrated into the society. The 601 were released after they had undergone six months of de-radicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration. According to Bamidele Shafa, the Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor (OSC), the ex-Boko Haram members have denounced their membership of Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, confessed their deeds, and took an oath of allegiance to the Federal Government of Nigeria. That was a little over a year ago. More recently, a group of Boko Haram generals were captured. Like the ones before them, they publicly renounced the organisation and sought forgiveness from the general public. Some of them claimed to have been forcefully conscripted into the militia group. The army distributed new clothes, food items, groceries, and toiletries to them and their families. Their decision was also commended. It is not certain if there is any evidence to support their forceful conscription except the word of their mouths.

That the Federal Government is re-integrating ex-Boko Haram soldiers back into the society makes light of their insidious acts. I found it hard to believe the Federal Government thought this a form of amnesty for members of a terrorist organisation that the Nigerian Army has been unable to technically defeat for more than 11 years. To forgive men who foment trouble in the country on the basis of confession looks more like an act of cowardice and a slap on the wrist for those who decided to take up arms against their country for no reason than it is an amnesty.  When Niger Delta militants were vandalising pipelines and causing insurrection, they had a reason for doing so. They felt they were marginalised in the sharing of the country’s wealth and they resorted to violence. Since that time, there have been the formation of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, many Niger Deltans militants were given amnesty and the derivation formula was reconstructed to make sure the Niger Delta states gets more revenue than they used to get.

We all know violence doesn’t solve any problem, but they tried to let the public know the reasons for their actions. It’s left for the public to determine the goodness or badness of their actions. Unlike Boko Haram, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, and other militant group were not responsible for the death of innocent citizens on a large scale. They were violent but not in the same mode as Boko Haram. And while militants in the Niger Delta said their attacks were due to the societal neglect and environment degradation that their communities have suffered, Boko Haram insurgency on the other hand is not related to anything the government did wrong against the people living in the North-East or anywhere else in the northern part of Nigeria. Releasing the members of a terrorist organisation like Boko Haram upon apprehension is not based on good military intelligence. As a matter of fact, it is a roundabout way of saying to the terrorists, “we know we can’t defeat you as a nation, therefore surrender your arms and go home in peace. Your sins are forgiven and no man will ever charge you for terrorism as long as Nigeria exists.”

When this talk about re-integrating ex-Boko Haram soldiers into the society started, a senator had hinted that one of them could one day become the president of Nigeria. Some were rumoured to have been enlisted to the Nigerian Army. All of this shows that some people in government have high hopes for these repentant terrorists. Apart from that being a disturbing fact, I am worried about the mental condition of Nigerian soldiers when they see that the men that had killed some of their comrade-in-arms are walking freely and even allowed the same uniform that they despise. This ridicules the fight against insurgency and could dampen anyone’s morale. I wonder how easy it would be for a soldier to stand shoulder to shoulder with a man that has killed someone he knew. That is not good for any man who swore to defend his country hid fatherland.

Sometimes, when Nigerian soldiers were killed, it was not only because they had a bad day, but also because they had no weaponry that could match those of the insurgents. In 2014, some men of the Nigerian Army numbering up to 54 were convicted of mutiny. They were originally sentenced to death. However, each of them was sentenced to ten years in prison upon a review of their case. The 54 soldiers were released recently, but they are not to return to the army. Their offence at the time was asking for improved weapons with which to fight the insurgents. They refused to fight unless they got better weapons of war. Instead of getting the weapons, the government at the same time was more concerned about upholding the law rather than addressing the issue raised by the soldiers. From 2014 till date, the situation has not improved. Terrorism has become more brazen so much so that the security of the Nigerian Defence Academy was breached by bandits in the early hours of August 24, 2021. Soldiers were killed and kidnapped and some received varying degree of injuries. Imagine how ludicrous it would be if some of these bandits were caught and then released because they were remorseful. Also imagine what that would do to the soldiers whose comrades-in-arms died in their arms. With the reintegration of ex-Boko Haram soldiers into the society, one could ask how sure the government is that they have indeed changed and are ready to embrace peace.

These are people that had been fighting to take away peace from the country. They could have feigned all the actions that the Nigerian Army sees as repentance. After all, there is no mechanism to determine if remorse was genuine. Someone that could take up arms against his country for no reason could not be trusted to be a penitent simply because he said he was sorry and was made to undergo a rehabilitation process.

People suffer relapse after rehabilitation process and there is no guarantee that none of these ex-Boko Haram soldiers would not go back to his old ways. As they say, old habits die hard.

By the time these ex-Boko Haram soldiers are allowed into the Nigerian Army, how easy would it be for them to shoot at and kill their friends who are yet to lay down their arms and embrace peace? How are we sure they wouldn’t be saboteurs of the military effort to root out terrorism in the North East? Sometimes in 2020, there was an audio clip of a soldier that said he was chided by some of his colleagues for ‘killing people too much’. Who were these too much people that this soldier was chided for killing?

Some of these ex-Boko Haram soldierswere said to have acquired different skills and would be provided funds and starter packs to help them in their new lives. How were the people expected to receive them? I wonder how people would feel having people that have killed members of their families live as their next door neighbours and watch them walk freely on the street as if they have done nothing wrong. The implication of this is that people who have suffered from terrorism one way or another now have to live with those who were once perpetrators of the act. That is a hard fact to deal with by anyone.

People can now take up arms against the country in the hope of getting economic empowerment when they show remorse.Then that would ridicule the intent of the government. People could plant themselves in bushes, pretending to be Boko Haram members, renounce the membership of a group they never belong to and then go back home with goodies from the government. What a way to fight insurgency!

If this is the best the Federal Government could to fight insurgency at this period, then it is very saddening. That the military now had to rely on terrorists to lay down their arms and have them re-integrated into the society before they could be wiped outshows how much the country is failing in the fight against terrorism. How many terrorists do the government hope to take in for de-radicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration before the terrorism would be completely wiped out? This is not good for the future of the country.

I don’t expect the government to think all the terrorists would lay down their arms, embrace peace and join the rehabilitation programme. If they are expecting it, it would never happen. Hence, the Nigerian Army needs to tighten its belt and not wait for the enemies to lay down their arms before conquering them. They have dealt with the people severely and should be given a dose of their own medicine. Taking up arms against one’s country should not be condoned in the name of de-radicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration. The worst thing the government could do for people living in the North East at this time is to allow ex-Boko Haram members live in their midst because their sins had been forgiven. It is a not wise decision and will never be.

Terrorists will always be terrorists and they should be treated as one. Re-integrating terrorists back to the society they once terrorised is not a good way to make terrorism go away. I don’t suppose they want both the former terrorists and the people they willnow be living with do so in peace and cordiality. The people would never grow over the suspicions that they could be attacked when the chips are down.

Nigeria need to do more than forcing its citizens to live with decisions that are not palatable and not leave us under the impression that the war could not be won without making peace with the terrorists as a matter of supreme urgency. Letting the terrorists go without any form of punishment is wrong. It should be stopped before we have a society full of repentant terrorists who cannot be trusted to not go back to their old ways.

The Nigerian government should for no reason appear as culprits in this matter. Nigeria has not done anything to warrant this level of violence from Boko Haram. If the government agrees to let ex-members walk away without facing justice, it is because it has conceded guilt in why they took up arms against the country. The particular thing that Boko Haram members do to warrant such a slap on the wrist for their actions is not known. The military is supposed to be courageous than all of us. And it should act as such. When people erred, they should be punished.

God bless Nigeria.

Segun Oguns writes from Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He holds a first class degree in Religious Studies from the University of Ibadan.

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