Musa made the clarification while addressing concerns over the handling of surrendered Boko Haram and ISWAP members during an interview with Arise News on Friday, stressing that international humanitarian law obligates states to treat surrendered adversaries humanely, while still distinguishing between categories of involvement in terrorism.
The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (Retd.), has defended the Federal Government’s deradicalisation initiative, Operation Safe Corridor, insisting that the programme is strictly designed for persons forcibly recruited or abducted by terrorist groups, and not for hardened combatants.
Musa made the clarification while addressing concerns over the handling of surrendered Boko Haram and ISWAP members during an interview with Arise News on Friday, stressing that international humanitarian law obligates states to treat surrendered adversaries humanely, while still distinguishing between categories of involvement in terrorism.
According to him, Nigeria’s counterinsurgency operations in the North-East, particularly in Borno State, revealed three distinct categories of persons within terrorist ranks.
He listed them as individuals coerced into joining under threat of death, civilians abducted and forced into labour such as farming and logistics support, and active combatants who directly participated in attacks and killings.
