The Defence Headquarters has disclosed that 800 out of 129,000 repentant Boko Haram terrorists and their families who have surrendered are now undergoing a one-year deradicalisation programme.

Disclosing this on Channels TV’s Morning Brief on Monday, the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Emeka Onumajuru, said the programme, being conducted in batches, is part of efforts to reintegrate them into society.

Mr Onumajuru stated that while terrorists found guilty by the court will pay for their crimes, others deemed eligible for rehabilitation are included in the deradicalisation programme.

He said, “To get the numbers right, right now, we have about 129,000 surrendered Boko Haram members and their families. Some of them are in detention facilities, some of them are in Kainji, and there is a special court that goes through all of them.

“Those that were found culpable face the books, and those that are going to be deradicalised go through the process, which takes about a year. The number taken in is not huge.

“As I said, we have 129,000 Boko Haram members and families. It doesn’t mean the 129,000 are going through the programme. The people going through the programme right now are about 800—in batches,” he explained.

Mr Onumajuru stated that the one-year programme is handled by professionals under Operation Safe Corridor, adopting a non-kinetic approach. He added that the time frame is “possible because the deradicalisation is done by professionals. That one-year period is sufficient enough, depending on the people handling the deradicalisation.”