Abuja: The Federal Government says it is expanding its reintegration programme under Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC) to rebuild trust and promote peace in conflict-affected communities across the country. The Coordinator of OPSC, Brig.-Gen. Yusuf Ali, disclosed this at a high-level donor and stakeholder meeting organised by the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Ali said the reintegration programme, originally focused on low-risk ex-combatants, has evolved to include host communities in order to foster reconciliation and long-term stability. He explained that many of the individuals classified as ‘clients’ were victims of abduction and coercion by insurgents, and not ideologues or masterminds behind the violence.
The OPSC Coordinator stressed that the programme is no longer focused solely on clients but now actively includes host communities in its reintegration strategy. Ali noted that without community acceptance, reintegration is incomplete. He described the challenges faced by individuals forcibly taken from their homes or highways, and others handed over by their parents under duress, emphasizing they are Nigerians caught in a conflict they never asked for.
Ali highlighted that through rigorous screening, such individuals had been separated from high-risk elements who are being prosecuted through the criminal justice system. He lamented the stigma faced by rehabilitated ex-combatants despite undergoing a structured process of deradicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration (DDRR). He warned that societal refusal to accept or empower them subjects them to a second punishment, resulting in double jeopardy.
Ali expressed gratitude to local and international partners for their continued support, citing collaborations with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). He described the recent partnership with IITA as a ‘breakthrough,’ which would support livelihood opportunities for both ex-combatants and host community members through skills training and agricultural value chains.
The coordinator reaffirmed that OPSC remains a key component of Nigeria’s Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) strategy, serving as the operational arm responsible for implementation at the grassroots level. He appealed for sustained donor support and collaboration to consolidate the programme’s gains, emphasizing the need to provide opportunities for Nigerians involved to start over.
Operation Safe Corridor, launched in 2016, aims to provide a non-kinetic approach to addressing insurgency through the rehabilitation and reintegration of repentant ex-combatants. The high-level meeting convened stakeholders from government, development partners, civil society, and the private sector to discuss these ongoing efforts.
