FG GRADUATES 117 REPENTANT TERRORISTS AS OPERATION SAFE CORRIDOR EXPANDS IN NORTH-EAST

The Federal Government has graduated 117 repentant terrorists from its Disarmament, Demobilisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) programme under Operation Safe Corridor.The graduation ceremony was held on February 18, 2026, at the Operation Safe Corridor camp in Gombe State.According to officials, the participants completed months of structured rehabilitation, including deradicalisation sessions, vocational skills acquisition, psychological counselling and civic education designed to prepare them for reintegration into their respective communities.Operation Safe Corridor, launched in 2016, targets former members of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) who voluntarily surrender and renounce violent extremism.Security authorities said each participant underwent profiling and security screening before admission into the programme. After graduation, they are expected to be reintegrated into their states of origin under supervision and community-based monitoring.The initiative forms part of Nigeria’s broader counter-insurgency strategy aimed at combining military operations with non-kinetic measures to address violent extremism in the North-East.However, the programme continues to generate debate, with some stakeholders expressing concerns about community acceptance, victims’ justice, and long-term monitoring of rehabilitated ex-combatants