I believe that forgiving them is God’s function; our job is to arrange the meeting — Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., US Army General.
By Ebele Orakpo
When Mrs. Liyatu Simon Tawasu recalls the Boko Haram attack on her village of Gwallam in Borno State, the pain remains fresh more than a decade later.
On October 1, 2014, insurgents stormed the community, killing scores of residents, including 15 members of her extended family. Her uncles were executed before their wives, while survivors returned days later to bury bodies abandoned in the open. “The pillars of my village are gone. I am a victim and no one can quantify my anguish,” she said quietly.
For thousands of Nigerians displaced, orphaned, widowed or maimed by insurgency, stories like hers raise a troubling question: Why is government investing billions of naira rehabilitating former terrorists while many victims remain trapped in poverty and displacement? The question lies at the heart of the controversy surrounding Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC), Nigeria’s programme designed to de-radicalise, rehabilitate and reintegrate repentant Boko Haram members into society. While supporters see it as a pragmatic strategy to weaken insurgency, critics argue it risks rewarding perpetrators while neglecting victims.
Vanguard, in this report, spoke to stakeholders, victims, and security experts to probe into the ideological roots of terror, the failing safety nets for survivors, and the growing outrage over state-funded privileges for repentant terrorists. Excerpts:
From amnesty debate to Operation Safe Corridor
The roots of the controversy stretch back to 2013. Under pressure from northern political and religious leaders, former President Goodluck Jonathan established a committee to examine the possibility of granting amnesty to Boko Haram members, similar to the Niger-Delta Amnesty Programme.
The proposal was controversial. Then Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau publicly ridiculed the idea.
“Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? It is we that should grant you a pardon,” he declared in an audio message.
Two years later, under late President Muhammadu Buhari, the military launched Operation Safe Corridor. The programme was designed as a 24-week de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration initiative targeting low-risk former insurgents who voluntarily surrendered.
Its objectives included dismantling extremist beliefs, providing vocational training and preparing participants for reintegration into civilian life. However, public debate intensified in March 2026 when Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, compared repentant terrorists to the Biblical prodigal son who deserved forgiveness and a second chance. For many victims, the analogy was difficult to accept.
Voices from the Camps
Across Nigeria’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, resentment simmers. For those who bore the brunt of the violence, the concept of state-funded rehabilitation feels like pure wickedness.
Bitrus James fled insurgent attacks with nothing but the clothes he wore. “I still don’t know where my parents are. Things are totally bad,” he lamented
For Cecilia, the wounds remain equally deep. “The terrorists attacked my community and killed many people. Seven members of my family disappeared. Till today, I don’t know where they are,“ she said.
Mr. Teri Wandi, another displaced victim, said conditions in many camps remain harsh. He said: We survive mainly through occasional NGO support. Government has practically abandoned us. We want to return home, but we cannot because insecurity remains.”
Far from being reformed, evidence suggests that some “repentant” insurgents use their rehabilitated status as a weapon of espionage to kill the very soldiers protecting them.
Simon Samaila (Internally Displaced Person) said: “The supposedly repentant terrorists are the most dangerous elements in our communities now. In one motor park, a repentant Boko Haram member stayed with soldiers in a camp, surveyed the area, and left. Four days later, terrorists attacked, killing soldiers and kidnapping others. Similar tracking and betrayal patterns occurred in Chibok and Wada, close to Gwoza. A man kills your family, loots your assets, burns your house, and the government rehabilitates him? This is adding salt to injury.”
This chilling reality was captured firsthand by German filmmaker, Thomas Dworzak, during a visit to a repentant terrorists’ camp in the North. Dworzak observed that no real repentance exists, noting that inmates freely admitted to raping women and murdering over 100 people. The filmmaker narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a camp inmate with a hidden weapon approached him.
“This is where I realised many of these people will never change; they are still Boko Haram members inside. Many don’t regret a single thing. This guy would have been a hero if he had stabbed me,” Dworzak said.
Global Caliphate and Territorial Ambitions
Security experts warn that the violence tearing through Nigeria’s North is not just localized crime, but part of a coordinated, global extremist movement that cannot be simply preached away.
According to Dr. Lionel Rawlins (Forensic Criminologist and ex-US Marine: “The core mission of Boko Haram hardliners and ideologists is to establish a caliphate. Those who buy into this ideology would rather die than surrender.”
Dr. Oamien Roy Okhidievbie (National Secretary, Retired Members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, REMENAF), noted: “Boko Haram, ISWAP (who aim to seize territories and restore an Islamic caliphate) and brutal bandits have expanded from cattle rustling to human trafficking. Today, they operate as real murderers, plundering villages, raping mothers before their children, and killing innocent citizens indiscriminately.”
Responding, Professor Kyari Mohammed (Former Vice-Chancellor, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola) said: “We are talking about extremism and extreme ideology; it’s a worldwide development. The crisis unfolding in the North-East mirrors events in parts of North Africa, the Sahel, and Iraq. This development impacts multiple regions simultaneously.”
For General Sirwan Barzani (Commander, Pêsmerge Special Forces “The Black Tigers”, Kurdistan), “The source of ISIL’s criminal behaviour is its ideology. Striving for a global empire, the group uses any means necessary to reach this goal. Already occupying parts of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, their political map exposes a dangerous desire to become a global power.”
Weaponizing Faith: Extreme Ideology vs. True Islam
This ideological warfare manifests as a rejection of modern statehood, deep-seated ethnic friction, and a weaponization of religion that mainstream Muslims completely disown.
Hajia Hamsatu Allamin (Founder/Executive Director, Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development) noted: “Boko Haram forbids Western education and medicine. Founder, Mohammed Yusuf blamed Western-educated elites for corruption, inequality, and bad governance. He argued that secular systems must be replaced with strict Sharia rule to ensure peace, equality, harmony, and justice. When society fails to provide education, extremist scholars freely preach, recruit, and indoctrinate followers without sanction. But let no one claim Boko Haram represents true Islam.”
Okhidievbie agrees: “This does not reflect mainstream Islam, as numerous Muslim organisations have publicly disowned these killers. Rather, it is a specific, radicalised belief system that weaponizes religion to preach hatred against the West and mandate violence.”
Dr. John Emilimor (US-based retired Dental Surgeon & Pastor) stated: “Millions of Muslims reject the idea that the Qur’an commands them to harm neighbors. Peaceful Muslims are simply practicing their faith with wisdom. Just as in Christianity, where literalism can be destructive without the Spirit of the text, any religious interpretation that rejects wisdom and endangers society cannot be tolerated.”
Pastor Timothy Balarabe (Missionary in the North-West) said the battle in Sokoto and Kebbi states is deeply tied to historical friction between Hausas and Fulanis. Fulanis see Hausas as foreigners who have come to take over their land, while claiming Sokoto as Fulani land and the seat of the caliphate. For over 200 years, prayers at the tomb of Usman dan Fodio have been geared towards dominating, subduing and conquering. This worsened under Buhari. The plan of dominating Nigeria is happening in that area, and the crisis from the North is already spreading to the South.”
‘Our Brothers’ or Merciless Killers? The False Equivalence
A massive wave of public anger has been triggered by high-ranking government officials who continue to humanize the insurgents. National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu stated in a VOA interview that some terrorists “want peace” and are “our brothers,” urging dialogue. This mirrors past comments by former Minister Isa Pantami, who referred to insurgents as “our Muslim brothers,” and former presidential aide, Femi Adesina, who controversially remarked that it was better to yield ancestral lands for ranching than to die holding onto them.
Okhidievbie rejected this soft stance, especially attempts to compare these terrorists to past Niger-Delta agitators. “Comparing Niger-Delta militants to Boko Haram or bandits is a biased and inaccurate equivalence. Niger-Delta agitators fought for resource control, environmental remediation, and economic development. Their focus was countering oil spills ruining local livelihoods. Consequently, abducted individuals were typically released unharmed once ransoms were paid and community grievances settled,” he said.
The Architecture of Failure: Political Gagging and Hyper-Radicalization
Experts agree that individuals driven by violent, exclusive religious ideologies cannot be de-radicalized through a brief crash program.
Said Emilimor: “Nigeria’s current de-radicalization process is flawed. True rehabilitation requires perpetrators to completely renounce their extremist ideologies under secure confinement—similar to how pedophiles are restricted—to ensure they cannot re-offend. Instead of prosecuting these criminals, political interference routinely orders their release, ending the cases prematurely. Reintegrating unrepentant extremists empowers them to cause more harm, leading to hyper-radicalization.”
He warns that this policy has directly compromised the institutional integrity and safety of Nigeria’s Armed Forces:
“By releasing those who kill religious opponents, the state inadvertently emboldens them. This misguided policy explains why terrorists now target high-ranking military officers. Historically, the Nigerian military and Police strictly defended their institutional integrity; even minor disrespect to a soldier met severe consequences. Today, those caught killing captains, colonels, and generals are simply released. The military has been deliberately gagged and disarmed by the political leadership.”
Okhidievbie added: “Consider victims like the Chibok girls: bandits destroy Nigeria’s future by killing youth who could have made groundbreaking discoveries. Yet, we welcome back their killers as ‘repentant terrorists,’ negotiating with them. This tragic loss of national potential completely invalidates these de-radicalization and reintegration programs.”
Driven by Force: The Conscript Classification
Arguments favoring the continuation of Operation Safe Corridor often hinge on the recruitment methods of the insurgents, drawing a fine line between hardcore ideologues and those forced into the fold.
Engr. Nash Ibrahim Hwere (National Coordinator, Leader Impact, Great Commission Movement of Nigeria) argued that many insurgents “did not choose this path willingly but were cajoled into terrorism.”
Dr. Lionel Rawlins believes that “those surrendering are rarely the core threat. Hardcore commanders would rather die than surrender. Instead, most who surrender are former captives—including women like the Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu forced into support roles—or children abducted at age nine who became teenage conscripts fighting under duress.”
For those who are not dragged away at gunpoint, financial desperation, starvation, and occultic psychological manipulation bridge the gap.
Bitrus James (an IDP) said “Some young people are attracted to the sect by payments as high as ?200,000.”
Farida (Former Captive) noted that “captured boys are forced to undergo an initiation ritual where they drink a blood-like liquid mixed with palm dates. After this, they start behaving exactly like the terrorists in thought and deed.”
Mariam (Former Captive): “Many remain entirely ignorant of the group’s actual ideology. Inside the enclaves, most fighters are impoverished, starving, unkempt young men aged 15 to 30, some armed only with sticks. During village raids, these insurgents steal resources, execute adult men, and forcibly conscript teenagers under threats of mass bloodshed if communities refuse to comply.”
The Bitter Billions: Terrorists vs. Abandoned Victims
Public anger peaks at the stark contrast between the financial fortunes of former terrorists and the utter destitution of those they displaced. Official financial reports reveal that Borno State spent N4.3 billion in 2025 alone on “livelihood support” for repentant Boko Haram members, following N3.45 billion spent in 2024 under the Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) program. This brings the two-year cumulative expenditure to a staggering N7.75 billion.
Although Bornu State Government had tried to rebuild some communities and resettle the people, but reports say that most of the rebuilt communities came under repeated attacks by terrorists. Until the issue of insecurity is dealt with, rebuilding communities and sending back IDPs to their communities will be an exercise in futility.
While the state budgets billions for the upkeep and economic startup packs of repentant terrorists, the victims are left to suffer in IDP camps.
Pastor Timothy Balarabe notes the state of the IDPs he had met: “The IDPs I met with in Jos, Maiduguri, and Zamfara are beyond bitter. They feel a profound sense of cruelty, believing the government values terrorists over them. While watching perpetrators get rehabilitated, these victims languish in camps, 70% dependent on NGOs for basic food and shelter. The trauma is so deep that one victim remarked to me: ‘If I see government physically, one-on-one, I will kill government.’ What we are experiencing in the North-West is worse than the North-East, yet our leaders are only interested in the 2027 election!”
This systemic neglect has triggered a secondary crisis: victims willingly fleeing back to insurgent territories just to survive. Hajia Hamsatu Allamin warns that severe food shortages and crushing social stigma inside state-run IDP camps are driving vulnerable women to cross over to the insurgent-controlled Lake Chad region, known as the Daula (empire), preferring economic employment under terrorists to starvation in state shelters.
Forgiveness Without Punishment: A Legal and Moral Crisis
The current framework of OPSC has drawn fierce criticism for attempting to bypass the criminal justice system under the guise of remorse.
Said Emilimor: “Repentance is a thing of the heart; it is voluntary. If a person confesses to a crime, it must be handled according to the law. In the biblical account of Luke 19:8, Zacchaeus voluntarily promised four-fold restitution for theft, proving true repentance. Repentance does not grant legal immunity or waive societal punishments, even for capital crimes. Every orderly society relies on consistent laws to protect lives, enforce justice, and preserve property, regardless of remorse. No law in Nigeria exonerates anyone who kills in the name of defending his religion; offenders must pay for their crimes.”
“If anybody is radicalized and perpetrates treasonable crimes and murder, they should be made to go through the criminal justice system to face the full weight of the law,” stated Okhidievbie.
The Blueprint for True Security: The Way Forward
As an Igbo adage wisely warns: “Giving the monkey water is not the issue; the real problem is retrieving your cup.” To secure the nation, stakeholders demand an absolute halt to unconditional releases, replacing soft rehabilitation with an aggressive, multi-layered security blueprint.
Rigorous Vetting and Strict Curfews
Dr. Rawlins asserts that any returnee or surrendering insurgent must undergo a mandatory, year-long rehabilitation program led by trauma professionals to check for Stockholm syndrome. Reintegration must be gradual and heavily conditional, featuring travel restrictions, an alcohol ban, a strict home-to-work curfew, and frequent random check-ins by caseworkers to prevent the re-formation of active cells.
Mutual Rehabilitation: The Palm and Its Bark
Engr. Nash Ibrahim Hwere calls for balance. “It is like a palm and its bark; if you touch one side, you must touch the other to create balance. You cannot rehabilitate repentant extremists who forced people into IDP camps while leaving the IDPs behind. Balancing mutual rehabilitation changes mindsets, builds trust, and aids community reintegration. The government must provide returnees with starter packs to prevent them from being enticed back with meager sums by insurgents.”
Grassroots Economic Independence
Hajia Hamsatu Allamin proved this economic model works through her foundation, where she introduced 60 rescued girls and ex-Boko Haram wives to income-generating activities and handed them $50 each to start small businesses in the camp. “59 came out successfully; only one returned to the bush,” she revealed. “When I first met them, they wanted to commit suicide, but now, none of them wants to die.”
Undercover Counter-Intelligence Webs
Okhidievbie emphasizes that IDP camps must be treated as strategic intelligence goldmines. Agencies like the DSS and DMI must infiltrate these camps to gather actionable data. Furthermore, when citizens are returned to cleared communities, undercover intelligence agents must be permanently embedded into daily life, posing as:
Teachers, traders, sugarcane/tomato hawkers, suya sellers, commercial vehicle drivers, etc.
This network will capture local rumors and insurgent movement patterns in real time, relaying coordinates directly to the Nigerian Air Force to neutralize threats before they escalate.
Conclusion: Can Fire and Water Co-Exist?
Emilimor sees the OPSC program as a dangerous absurdity, stating that a secular nation and an Islamic State governed by strict Sharia cannot co-exist, pointing to territorial separation as the ultimate solution.
This perspective aligns with global security insights from prominent Australian-Iraqi cleric, Imam Mohammed Tawhidi. Explaining why Saudi Arabia and the UAE are safer than Western democracies, Tawhidi noted that Gulf states strictly ban all extremist symbols and ideologies, maintaining that under the guise of democracy and freedom of speech, societies often tolerate views that actively threaten citizens’ lives. His conclusion is absolute: societies must refuse to co-exist with those seeking their destruction.
Ultimately, as billions continue to fly into a program that leaves victims bitter and insurgents emboldened, a fundamental question remains: can the OPSC program truly foster a peaceful, shared future within the very communities these terrorists once brutalized?
You be the judge.
