The Federal Government has stated that the second Operation SAFE CORRIDOR Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Camp will soon be open in the North-West region to encourage willing low-risk terrorists and bandits to lay down arms.
The first center was established at Mallam Sidi in Gombe State.
Laka recalled that the deradicalization of ex-combatants started in the Nigerian Correctional Service in 2015 and has been replicated in other custodial centers in the country due to its success.
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The National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Major-General Adamu Garba Laka, disclosed this when he received delegation from the Alliance de Sahel from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger who were on a study tour of the center.
The coordinator said: “The program aims to deradicalize, rehabilitate and reintegrate low-risk members of the terrorist group, with the goal of remolding them into better citizens of the nation.
“The camp has graduated almost 3,000 converts since inception. The second Operation SAFE CORRIDOR DDR Camp will soon be operational in the Northwest region of Nigeria.”
Laka said Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic demonstrated this cooperation both in kinetic and non-kinetic by agreeing to synergise their military efforts under the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and set up the Multinational Joint Task Force.
Meanwhile, Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, has vowed that his administration would not negotiate with terrorists no matter what.
“We will not seek out terrorists in the forest to negotiate. However, if they voluntarily surrender, renounce violence, and choose to become law-abiding citizens, we are open to reintegrating them to society,”.
He, however, said his government would welcome and integrate into society, any terrorist that renounces violence, and chooses to become a law-abiding citizen.
