NETIZEN: No Repentant Terrorist Should Be Allowed To Live Freely While Their Victims Still Languish
A former mayor of Blanco, Texas, Mike Arnold, has criticised the ongoing reintegration of former insurgents, arguing that it is unjust to prioritise individuals who once carried out violent attacks while victims of terrorism continue to suffer.
A total of 744 repentant terrorists on Wednesday graduated from the Federal Government’s De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration Camp under Operation Safe Corridor.
Most of the participants were from Borno (597), followed by Yobe (58), Kano (15), Bauchi (12), and Adamawa (10), Abia (2), Akwa Ibom (1), Anambra (2), Ebonyi (3), Enugu (1), Katsina (3), Kebbi (1), Kogi (5), Nasarawa (4), Niger (2), Plateau (2), and Sokoto (2).
The group also included foreign nationals: one each from Burkina Faso and Cameroon, two from Chad, and four from the Niger Republic.
At the graduation ceremony held in Gombe, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, said the programme is a strategic effort to address the root causes of insurgency, stressing it is not an amnesty but a measure to reduce reoffending and curb extremist recruitment.
“This is not a reward but a deliberate approach to reducing violence, weakening recruitment pipelines, and fostering long-term stability,” he said.
He noted that combining military operations with rehabilitation is key to achieving lasting peace, urging the graduates to embrace reintegration and shun violence.
The coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, Brigadier General Yusuf Ali, said participants underwent psychosocial support, vocational training, and reorientation programmes to prepare them for reintegration, describing it as a collective responsibility.
Reacting in a post on X, Arnold expressed concern that those affected by insurgency, including families of the deceased and survivors, are still facing neglect, lack of support, and inadequate rehabilitation efforts from authorities.
He argued that it is morally wrong for individuals described as “repentant” terrorists to be reintegrated back into society without what he described as sufficient accountability, especially when many victims are still battling trauma, poverty, and displacement caused by years of violence.
‘’The fact these captured terrorists are taken care of by the government while millions of their displaced victims continue to suffer from ongoing denial is pure evil of the highest magnitude.
‘’No terrorist, “repentant” or otherwise, should be given even air to breathe while their victims still languish and die of neglect. This alone proves government impunity and complicity more than anything else they can say or do. Intentional denial of recognition and aid to displaced in this scenario is legally prosecutable as GENOCIDE under international law, and Tinubu his administration stand GUILTY.’’
