How military will handle repentant terrorists

The Chief of Naval Staff, Idi Abbas, has said that families of victims killed in terrorist attacks must give their consent before any repentant terrorists are granted amnesty and reintegrated into society.

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Mr Abbas, a rear admiral, made the remarks on Wednesday while addressing senators during the screening of service chiefs at the Senate chamber.

He was subsequently confirmed by the Senate alongside the other service chiefs appointed on 24 October. They are the Chief of Defence Staff, Olufemi Oluyede, Chief of Air Staff, Sunday Aneke, and Chief of Army Staff, Waidi Shaibu.

“De-radicalisation of repentant criminals will be looked into and tweaked and if I may advise, before such is done, if families have been identified that have lost their members through those people, there is need to contact them, talk with them if they accept for those people to be granted that amnesty after the radicalisation,” Mr Abbas said.

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In Nigeria, when terrorists surrender or claim repentance, some are reintegrated into society despite their involvement in deadly attacks.The process, often involving psychological therapy, vocational training, and religious re-education, was introduced during the administration of late former President Muhammadu Buhari.

READ ALSO: Nigeria committed to ending TB by 2030 despite drop in donor support – First Lady

Under the programme, repentant terrorists were camped in Gombe for rehabilitation before being released to state governments for reintegration.

However, the initiative has continued to attract criticism from many Nigerians who argue that anyone guilty of terrorism should face prosecution rather than be granted amnesty.

Plans for the Naval force

Mr Abbas said the navy, under his leadership, would build on existing security strategies to address challenges such as kidnapping, banditry, and oil theft.

“We already have our total spectrum maritime strategy which covers various areas of our operations. So, we are looking at that and one of the challenges that we are faced with now is that of kidnapping, banditry, oil theft. Nigerian Navy takes care of these various layers of challenges and my belief is we cannot do it alone, hence we have to work together.