Chief of Defence Staff, Olufemi Oluyede, said the initiative reflects a broader strategy that combines military pressure with rehabilitation efforts to curb the spread of extremist ideologies and stabilise affected communities.
Nigeria is intensifying its non-military response to insurgency, with 744 former fighters and victims of violent extremism completing a federal deradicalisation and reintegration programme under Operation Safe Corridor.
Mr Oluyede, an army general, who was represented by Kabiru Tanimu, a rear admiral and Director of Special Operations Forces at the Defence Headquarters, spoke on Friday at the graduation ceremony held in Gombe.
He said the programme was designed not as a reward for wrongdoing but as a structured pathway to disengagement from violence, noting that long-term peace requires addressing the social and ideological drivers of insurgency.
Of the 744 graduates, eight are foreign nationals — one each from Burkina Faso and Cameroon, two from Chad, and four from the Niger Republic — while the remaining 736 are Nigerians.
Data from the programme shows that Borno State accounted for the majority of participants, with 597 beneficiaries. Others came from Yobe (58), Kano (15), Bauchi (12), and Adamawa (10), alongside smaller numbers from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and Sokoto states.
Officials said the participants underwent months of structured rehabilitation, including psychosocial support, vocational training, civic education and religious reorientation aimed at countering extremist narratives.
The programme’s coordinator, Yusuf Ali, a brigadier-general, said many of the beneficiaries were drawn into insurgency through coercion and manipulation, adding that the initiative provides them with an opportunity to rebuild their lives and reintegrate into society.
Of the total graduates, 733 are Muslims, and 11 are Christians.
The Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Security Matters and Intergovernmental Affairs, Yusuf Musa, urged the graduates to embrace the programme as a turning point.
He said sustained peace in the region would depend not only on security operations but also on the successful reintegration of those who renounce violence.
Operation Safe Corridor, established in 2016, is a key component of Nigeria’s counter-insurgency framework, focusing on rehabilitation and reintegration alongside ongoing military operations.
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