The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume has reacted to the deradicalisation of ex-Boko Haram members by the Nigerian Army.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Ndume said the action by the military authorities is a misplaced priority.
“This is a misplaced priority that is not supposed to happen now. It is okay to deradicalise but the timing is completely wrong.
“This is a situation where we still have over one million displaced persons in various camps and communities, they are still dealing with the trauma of the insurgency,” he said.
Speaking further, the lawmaker wondered why the Federal Government will come up with the Operation Safe Corridor programme when many residents have been affected by terrorism in the northeast.
Rather than rehabilitating the repentant terrorists, Ndume who represents Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, wants the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to rehabilitate the people that have been worst-hit by the insurgency in the region.
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In doing this, he asked the Federal Government to give the Internally Displaced Persons scattered across the country start-up packs to begin a new life.
“If the government is serious about a programme like this, it should start with the victims first and not the perpetrators.
“I am in Maiduguri. The worst part of it is that those that have been so-called deradicalised are released into society. There is no monitoring device. One of them that came back killed his father and took away his two cows.”
Operation Safe Corridor is an initiative of the Federal Government aimed at rehabilitating low-risk, “repentant” Boko Haram fighters.
