Deradicalisation centre, proper profiling — Borno leaders’ resolutions on repentant insurgents

On Sunday, community leaders and stakeholders in Borno state held a meeting to discuss how the federal government should handle repentant members of Boko Haram.

The stakeholders’ meeting was organised by the state government and presided over by Babagana Zulum, the state governor.

The decision of the federal government to rehabilitate and reintegrate repentant insurgents back into society has generated mixed reactions.

Many Nigerians have argued that it may further fuel the insurgency in the country as some of the insurgents would believe that there is a soft landing for them after committing several atrocities.

At the stakeholders’ meeting, the Borno elders agreed to forgive and accept the repentant insurgents.

They also issued a 16-point communique signed by Kaka-Shehu Lawan, Borno state commissioner for justice and attorney-general of the state.

The communique contains the conditions that must be met before the insurgents are accepted into various communities.

Here are the highlights:

Proper profiling

The stakeholders said the repentant Boko Haram members should be properly profiled so that the hardened ones would not be hastily released to society.

Retrieval of weapons

The stakeholders asked the federal government to retrieve all firearms and weapons used by the repentant insurgents.

Involve parents of repentant insurgents

The stakeholders advocated the involvement of parents of surrendered Boko Haram members, community leaders, and the media in the deradicalisation programme.

Establish deradicalisation centre in Borno

The leaders asked the federal government to establish a world-class deradicalisation and rehabilitation centre in Borno state, being the epicentre of the insurgency.

Repentant insurgents should be handled within instrumentality of the law

The stakeholders asked the federal and state governments to handle the issues of repentant insurgents with utmost care and within the instrumentality of the law.