Rehabilitation Efforts Should Prioritise Victims of Insurgency- Gombe Deputy Governor

Gombe State Deputy Governor, Dr. Manassah Daniel Jatau, has urged policymakers to prioritize the suffering of insurgency victims while addressing the rehabilitation of former insurgents.

Dr. Jatau made this call during a meeting with participants from the National Fusion Centre on Dialogue and Peace Processes at his office in Gombe.

He emphasized that while reintegration efforts for repentant insurgents were important, there was the need for victims’ welfare taking precedence.

The Deputy Governor warned against a system where perpetrators of violence receive support, while victims remained neglected.

“It will not make sense to leave the victims unattended while the culprits enjoy privileges under the guise of rehabilitation,” he stated.

The deputy governor also underscored the necessity of deploying more psychologists at Operation Safe Corridor, the Deradicalization Centre for ex-Boko Haram Combatants, to conduct thorough assessments of ex-insurgents and ensure that they were genuinely reformed.

He highlighted that without proper psychological intervention, there was a risk of former insurgents reverting to violence.

Dr. Jatau expressed hope that with sustained peace, resources currently allocated to security operations could be redirected toward development projects and fostering long-term stability in affected regions.

The visitors are participants studying Nigeria’s homegrown approach to conflict resolution, particularly the Operation Safe Corridor initiative, which focuses on rehabilitating former Boko Haram members.

They are from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, the United Kingdom, and Norway.

The Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, Brigadier General Yusuf Ali, who led the delegation, explained that their goal was to learn from Nigeria’s experience in handling insurgency, particularly the Borno Model.