The Nigerian Army has revealed that 2,168 former Boko Haram members have graduated from the De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) programme in Gombe State.
Commandant of the DRR Camp, Operation Safe Corridor, Col. Abiodun Johnson, made the disclosure on Thursday during a courtesy visit by the Borno deputy governor, Usman Kadafur.
He said that the repentant insurgents had passed through various rebuilding programmes and underwent a series of medical screening, psychological and psychospiritual counselling, sports therapy, drug abuse counselling and western education programmes.
Johnson said that during the six-month programme, the participants were trained on vocational skills, including carpentry, cap knitting, shoe making, tailoring and electrification.
He explained that all of them also ventured into farming in the camp as a compulsory trade, noting that the programme was divided into three phases; the initial documentation, initial medical test, intelligence profiling, NIMC profiling biometrics and capturing.
“We are also doing categorisation to monitor different psychological points of mind of the client, which will give us the advantage of knowing the type of psychological first aid they will undergo.
“We also have the buy-in process where everybody must accept that they will be part of the programme. After the programme, the clients graduate with skills that enable them to become self-reliant.
“The reintegration was done by partners in collaboration with community leaders. We also have a feedback mechanism through our partners to find out what the clients are doing. So far, the feedback we are receiving is impressive, as they have been doing very well,” he said.
The commandant said that the repentant Boko Haram fighters swore an oath of allegiance to the Nigerian government before they were released back to their respective society.
