The office of the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Gabriel Olonishakin is currently training over 800 members of the Boko Haram terrorist group in different vocational training skills.
Alhaji Sani Sidi, Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who was at the public hearing on a bill seeking to establish the North East Development Commission (NEDC) at the Senate, said the repentant Boko Haram insurgents have been registered in a programme tagged, “Safe Corridor initiative”.
According to him, the programme was conceived to provide a leeway for repentant members of the sect to help them return to a normal life. Meanwhile, the Senate announced yesterday that it would pass the North East Development Commission Bill on May 25.
The Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, confirmed this at the public hearing organised to gather views from the public about the bill, and he stated that the main objective of creating the commission was to produce a platform through which Nigeria could generate funds to rebuild communities destroyed by insurgents.
Sidi stressed while responding to a request on amnesty package for the sect that “It is not correct that the Federal Government does not have a plan for repentant sect members. The government has set up the safe corridor programme. I do know that over 800 sect members have been registered in it.
“They have exited the Boko Haram through the programme, in line with international best practice. They are currently involved in various skills acquisition programmes, which is being handled by the military. It is being monitored by the Chief of Defence Staff”.
Government trains 800 repentant Boko Haram members
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