Sen. Gaidam sponsor of the bill that seeks to establish an agency for the rehabilitation of repentant Boko Haram members, has said his goal is to reintegrate such persons into mainstream politics in Nigeria.
The lawmaker said this while addressing journalists at a press conference in Abuja on 25th of February.
Gaidam said, “The agency when established will help rehabilitate and reintegrate the defectors, repentant and forcefully conscripted members of the insurgent group Boko Haram to make them useful members of the society and provide an avenue for reconciliation and promote national security.
“It will also encourage other members of the group who are still engaged in the insurgency to abandon the group, especially in the face of the military pressure and enable the government to derive insider-information about the insurgency group for greater understanding of the group and its inner workings.
“It will enable government to use the defectors to fight the unrepentant insurgents. It will help disintegrate the violent and poisonous ideology that the group spreads as the program will allow some repentant defectors or suspect terrorists to express remorse over their actions.
“The agency would also help to combat future recruitment into the insurgents group. If defectors told their stories and were made more public, their experiences would play a key role in countering Terrorist propaganda, which in turn would lessen the appeal of joining the group.
