A Shocking Salvo Of Insensitivity -By Kene Obiezu

Nigeria’s riveting battle against insecurity continues to throw up wave after wave of controversy, with the latest being the reintegration of 744 so-called repentant terrorists into  society . As expected, the decision, which is a brainchild of Operation Safe Corridor, has kicked up a noxious cloud of controversy, with many Nigerians horrified that their killers are about to be let loose into the society.

While there is certainly some argument to be made in favor of the reintegration, the question must be asked: at what point does public opinion actually begin to sway such decisions, especially when the opinion is framed by those who have felt firsthand the chilling consequences of terrorism?

The tension around Nigeria’s controversial decision to de-radicalize, rehabilitate, and reintegrate repentant terrorists into the society is almost as old as the war against terrorism itself. The idea was first mooted and took form under the Muhammadu Buhari presidency.

The program is Nigeria’s attempt to try something else alongside outright force in what is a gripping national battle against terrorism.  Many terrorists who surrendered have been put through the program, but its success or otherwise remains very much a subject for debate, especially as Nigeria does not exactly appear to be winning the war against the  terrorists.

For many Nigerians, their concerns do not stop at giving terrorists a second chance because,for for example, while Nigeria attends to the terrorists with something approaching trepidation in well-appointed camps and conditions, IDPs displaced by insecurity languish in squalid camps where the prospects of a better life grow bleaker by the day.

While Nigeria’s military authorities continue to treat so-called repentant terrorists with tremulous trepidation, the terrorists, emboldened by the shocking naivety of the Nigerian state, continue to launch attack after attack on vulnerable communities.

With reports of terrorists penetrating Nigeria’s security architecture, what stronger evidence exists out there to show that this repentance is no ruse?

In a critical war against terrorism, Nigeria’s military establishment may not be compelled to divulge military tactics and secrets to Nigerians, but what metrics are being used to determine repentance and deradicalization, or is an exhausted country simply seeking shortcuts?

Is the messaging, whichh is so critical at such a crucial moment, for the terrorists or their long-suffering victims? Why has the military establishment chosen a time when attacks have intensified in the North to announce that terrorists are to be reintroduced into the society?

Something needs to happen to press home the reality that Nigeria is losing the war against terrorism. Maybe this reintegration, as desultory and as dangerous as it seems, is the drop of water that will finally cause the beaker to overflow.

Let the Nigerian government and military authorities get the message clear: Without justice, Nigerians do not wish to ever live side by side with terrorists whose repentance is more a tale to regale military authorities than reality. Nigerians will not be retraumatized again.

The warning Is even clearer: the fish farmer who decides to introduce barracudas into a fish farm can expect blood,blood, and only blood.

Kene Obiezu is a lawyer, writer, and social commentator. He can be reached at keneobiezu@gmail.com.