The Head of the Countering Violent Extremism, CVE, Department in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Dr. Fatima Akilu, told President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday that no fewer than 22 women and girls recruited as suicide bombers by members of the Boko Haram sect are now undergoing rehabilitation under the programme.
She said the female suicide bombers were being rehabilitated after voluntarily embracing de-radicalisation programme.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, quoted Akilu as speaking during a meeting she had with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to brief him of the department’s activities.
One of the objectives of the CVE is to reform terrorists and prevent others from joining terrorist organisations and violent sects.
Akilu told the President that the programme’s non-military approach was running concurrently with the armed onslaught against insurgents in the country.
She said so far, the CVE has rehabilitated no fewer than 305 victims of terrorism rescued from the Sambisa Forest by the Nigerian military.
She told the President that a National Security Corridor Programme has been created to provide a safe route for those who wish to leave Boko Haram voluntarily and that 47 erstwhile members of the group have embraced the program.
Buhari applauded steps being taken by the Office of the NSA and other agencies of government to rehabilitate victims of terrorism and violent extremism in Nigeria.
He promised that the Federal Government will continue to do its best to ensure that victims of Boko Haram’s atrocities receive necessary support, even as it strives to rid the country of terrorism and insurgency in the shortest possible time.
Follow Us