ABOUT 800 former Boko Haram insurgents have begun receiving vocational training under the government programme known as known as Operation Safe Corridor aimed at rehabilitating them and reintegrating them into society.
Designed along similar lines to the Niger Delta amnesty programme, Operation Safe Corridor offers a pardon for those fighters who lay down their arms and embrace peace. In support of the government's plan, the European Union has offered financial assistance to back up the rehabilitation programme with €67m worth of funding.
According to Alhaji Mohammed Sidi, the director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema), the first batch of 800 ex-fighters have begun training. Making the disclosure at a two-day public hearing on the North East Development Commission Bill 2016, he said that the skill acquisition exercise was being handled by the military and monitored by the office of the chief of defence staff.
Alhaji Sidi said: “It is not true that the federal government has no amnesty package as there is what is called safe corridor. I do know that 800 plus Boko Haram insurgents have been registered and they are currently receiving various skill acquisition training."
Having laid down their arms, the fighters were profiled, documented and offered training in new skills at several camps currently set up across the northeast. Up until now, militants who surrendered were held in jail awaiting trial and the Nigerian Army has been criticised for its treatment of Boko Haram insurgents and suspects.
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