The Federal Government of’s De-radicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) program has graduated no fewer than 2,168 contrite members of Boko Haram in Gombe State.
During a courtesy visit by Borno State Deputy Governor Umar Usman Kadafur at the DRR Camp, Operation Safe Corridor, on Thursday, October 26, 2023, Col. Abiodun Johnson, the camp’s commandant, revealed this information.
According to Johnson, the clients had completed a number of medical screenings, psychological and psycho-spiritual counselling, sports therapy, drug abuse counselling, and Western education programs in addition to various rebuilding initiatives.
According to the Commandant, the clients received training in a variety of vocational skills over the course of the six-month program, including electrification, carpentry, cap knitting, shoemaking, and tailoring.
The program, he explained, was broken down into three stages: initial documentation, initial medical test, intelligence profiling, NIMC profiling Biometrics, and capturing. All of the clients also started farming in the camp as a required trade.
“We are also doing categorisation to monitor different psychological points of mind of the client, which will give us the advantage of knowing the type of psychological first aid they will undergo,” he said.
“We also have the buy-in process where everybody must accept that they will be part of the programme,”
He went on to say that upon completion of the program, the clients are equipped with the necessary skills to support themselves.
“The reintegration was done by partners in collaboration with community leaders. We also have a feedback mechanism through our partners to find out what the clients are doing. So far, the feedback we are receiving is impressive, as they have been doing very well,” he stated.
Before being released back into their respective societies, the repentant Boko Haram fighters, according to him, took an oath of allegiance to the Nigerian government.
