The Senator representing Yobe East, Ibrahim Gaidam, Monday explained why he sponsored a Bill to create a commission to oversee the de-radicalization of repentant Boko Haram insurgents.
Senator Gaidam, who addressed a press conference in Abuja, said that the proposed commission would help repentant insurgents to “re-enter mainstream politics, religion and society.”
According to him, the “Bill for an Act to establish a National Agency for the education, de-radicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration of repentant insurgents” would promote reconciliation and national unity.
The agency when established, Gaidam added will, “Provide an avenue for rehabilitating, de-radicalizing, and reintegrating the defectors, repentant and forcefully conscripted members of the insurgent group Boko Haram to make them useful members of the society.
“Provide an avenue for reconciliation and promote national security.
“Provide an-open-door and encouragement for other members of the group who are still engaged in the insurgency to abandon the group, especially in the face of the military pressure.
“Allow the government to derive insider-information about the insurgency group for greater understanding of the group and its inner workings.
“Gaining a greater understanding of the insurgents will enable the government to study the needs of de-radicalization effort, improve the process and address the immediate concerns of violence.
“Enable Government to use the defectors to fight the unrepentant insurgents.
“Help disintegrate the violent and poisonous ideology that the group spreads as the program will allow some repentant defectors or suspect terrorists to express remorse over their actions repent and recant their violent doctrine and in the long run, re-enter mainstream politics, religion and society.”
He added that the agency would also help to combat future recruitments into the insurgents group.
“If defectors told their stories and were made more public, their experiences would play a key role in countering Terrorist propaganda, which in turn would lessen the appeal of joining the group,” Gaidam said.
He said that the services of the proposed agency would help the Federal Government to cut the cost of incarceration.
He insisted that individuals who would otherwise have their lives entrenched in criminality would be made to become productive members of society.
He said the agency would also help to render extremist movements obsolete by undermining the foundations upon which the movements were built.
The Yobe East Senator said that the challenge is to ensure that repentant terrorists are rehabilitated in the best possible way so that they become useful members of the society.
He noted that the specialized programmes of the proposed agency would serve as “mechanisms for disengagement from terrorist’s ideology and invalidate the recourse to violence.”
He added that, “In view of the fact that the Boko Haram insurgency is becoming increasingly aggressive since its inception in 2009, marked by extreme brutality and explicit targeting of civilians…it has become necessary for us to go back to the drawing board and adopt an alternative approach, in addition to the military option which has so far performed significantly well.
“There is no doubt that many members of the insurgents’ group have defected and many more are willing to repent given a window of opportunity and this is confirmed by many organizations including NGO’s that have unalloyed access to the Boko Haram.
“There is the need for a more strategic and comprehensive approach to entice those members of the group who, after realizing the futility of the course they are pursuing have eventually decided to voluntarily lay down their arms and chose the path of peace.
“Hence, the need for the establishment of the National Agency for the Rehabilitation, De-radicalization and reintegration of repentant insurgents to accommodate the defectors.
“The agency when established shall be charged with the responsibility of the planning, designing and organizing specialized programs aimed at deradicalizing, rehabilitating and reintegrating defectors and repentant insurgents.
“Those who have become weary of the perpetual violence and have voluntarily laid down their arms and defected from the group will be accepted and rehabilitated using various tools of deradicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration.
“In contrast, those captured active in the battlefields will be required to, in addition to the psychological therapy, participate in the criminal justice process.
“In dealing with the insurgency, Nigerian Government needs to introduce both preventive and corrective measures in addressing violent extremism,” Gaidam said.