FG asked to suspend ex-terrorists’ reintegration programme

The Federal Government has been called upon to immediately suspend its reintegration programme for repentant terrorists in order not to undermine justice and national security.

Civil rights group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), who made the call on Sunday,  strongly condemned the Federal Government’s decision to reintegrate 744 individuals described as “repentant terrorists” into society under the Operation Safe Corridor initiative.

In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group described the policy as reckless and insensitive, arguing that it disregards victims of terrorism and poses serious risks to already fragile communities.

The controversy follows the Federal Government’s announcement that 744 persons—classified as former terrorists and victims of violent extremism—have completed a deradicalisation programme and will be returned to various communities nationwide. The development was disclosed at a graduation ceremony in Gombe, where military authorities presented the initiative as part of a broader non-kinetic strategy to address insurgency.

Government officials have maintained that the programme is not an amnesty scheme but a structured rehabilitation effort incorporating psychosocial support, vocational training, religious reorientation, and civic education. Participants, largely drawn from insurgency-affected states in the North-East, including Borno State, are said to also include foreign nationals.

However, HURIWA insists that the programme raises fundamental concerns about accountability and public safety.

“What the Federal Government has effectively done is to normalise the reinsertion of individuals linked to mass violence into fragile communities without transparent judicial accountability, without public consent, and without justice for victims.

“This is not peacebuilding. This is a dangerous experiment with human lives.

“At a time when widows, orphans, displaced families, and survivors of terrorism continue to live with irreversible trauma, the government has chosen to prioritise the rehabilitation of those accused of inflicting that pain—without first ensuring justice is served.

“This approach violates the core principles of natural justice, undermines the Nigerian Constitution, and raises serious questions about compliance with counter-terrorism laws which require that perpetrators of terrorism be subjected to due legal processes.

“The insistence that this programme is not an amnesty is immaterial. In practical terms, individuals associated with acts of terror are being released back into society through administrative channels rather than through transparent, public, and judicially supervised processes.

“This amounts to institutionalised impunity,” the statement read.

The group further cautioned that the policy could have far-reaching consequences, including the potential reintroduction of radicalised individuals into vulnerable communities and erosion of public trust.

“It risks recycling radicalised individuals into communities that are already vulnerable and traumatised. It creates fear, distrust, and resistance among local populations expected to receive these individuals. It undermines the sacrifices of security personnel who have risked and lost their lives fighting terrorism. It sends a dangerous signal that violent extremism may ultimately be met with leniency rather than firm justice. It weakens deterrence and may embolden recruitment into terrorist networks and it places Nigeria at risk of becoming a soft ground for the reconfiguration of extremist cells under the guise of reintegration.

“The scale of this action—744 individuals—combined with the absence of independently verifiable safeguards, raises urgent national security red flags that cannot be ignored.

“Peace cannot be built on secrecy, selective accountability, and the quiet reintegration of individuals linked to atrocities,” it said.

HURIWA added that the effectiveness of any reintegration programme should be judged not by the number of participants processed, but by the extent of justice delivered, the confidence of affected communities, and assurances that violence will not recur.

The group therefore demanded : “The immediate suspension of the reintegration programme.
” Full public disclosure of the identities, roles, and risk profiles of all beneficiaries.

“Clear evidence of judicial proceedings and accountability measures for each individual.

“A comprehensive national framework for victim compensation, rehabilitation, and justice and Independent monitoring and oversight involving civil society, security experts, and affected communities.

“Nigeria must not sacrifice justice on the altar of expediency, nor trade long-term security for short-term political optics.

“The rights, dignity, and safety of victims must come first—not as an afterthought, but as the foundation of any credible counter-terrorism strategy.
“Anything less is unacceptable,” it added.