… Senate tells FG to stop reintegrating repentant Boko Haram members
The Nigerian military is deploying former Boko Haram militants to the frontlines to hunt down their former comrades across the Lake Chad Basin.
These former militants are the products of a deradicalisation and reintegration campaign supported by Borno State governor Babagana Zulum, who noted that over 300,000 terrorists have surrendered in recent years. Thousands of these ex-combatants are not just returning to civilian life; they are being repurposed as the military’s insider weapon.
The transition pipeline is formalised under the auspices of Operation Safe Corridor. After undergoing re-indoctrination, a select group of these former fighters are heavily relied upon for their intimate knowledge of terrain and the playbook of active terrorist groups.
Ba Modu, a man who spent nearly two decades as a dreaded Boko Haram Qa’id (war commander), is an example. Having enlisted in 2005 as an early disciple of the sect’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf, Modu commanded major operations against the Nigerian state. Today, two years after his surrender, he serves as a fierce battlefield asset for the very military he once sought to destroy.
