Senate moves to create agency for repentant Boko Haram members

Ahmed Lawan

The Senate has introduced a bill to create an agency that would take responsibility for the rehabilitation, deradicalisation and integration of repentant Boko Haram members in the country.

Senator Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe East senatorial district read the bill for the first time during plenary on Thursday.

The military had said last month that about 608 repentant insurgents were undergoing the De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) programme under its Operation Safe Corridor in Malam-Sidi, Gombe State.

The programme includes formal literacy classes, skills acquisition and Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) as well as drug and psychotherapy.