The Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development (ALFOPED) has unveiled a community-based de-radicalisation and reintegration model, designed to reintegrate former insurgents through holistic approach.
Hajiya Hansatu Allamin, the Executive Director of the foundation while unveiling the model on Wednesday in Maiduguri said so far over 3,000 repentant insurgents had been deradicalised through the unique approach.
Allamin said that the model was centred on community-led approach that prioritises inclusively, collaboration and empowerment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the manual was titled: ‘Community Based De-Radicalisation and Reconciliation model: Restoring Human Dignity and Rebuilding Communities’.
She said through their transitional justice and reconciliation initiative, ALFOPED had identified women linked to radicalisation and engaged them in group-based and individual deradicalisation sessions.
The sessions, according to her, were led by deradicalisation experts, fostering dialogues grounded in the Qur’an, Hadith and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad’s companions, their disciples and their grand-discoples.
The ultimate aim, the executive director said, was to counter and prevent violence extremism, deradicalise the indoctrinated ones and facilitate rehabilitation and reintegration.
According to Allamin, it also promotes re-socialisation, clarifies misconception about Islam, strengthens resilience and fosters positive relationship between the women and their host community.
She said that the key focus was to engage participants, mainly repentant insurgents
through structured re-socialisation programmes in order to help them reintegrate into society.
Allamin said that a rigorous vetting system involving community leaders had further helped them in selecting repentant women, girls and minors for De-Radicalisation.
The executive director said Islamic scholars were also used in facilitating the structured dialogue sessions.
They were aimed at deconstructing extremist ideologies and beliefs, as well as prevent the true teachings of Islam and incorporating cognitive behavioural therapy.
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno was represented by retired Brig.- Gen. Abdullahi Sabi, Special Adviser on Security
He said that in spite of the resurgence of attacks in some parts of the state recently, more than 300,000 Boko Haram terrorists had surrendered to the authorities through the deradicalisation and reintegration programme.
Zulum said his administration had so far de-radicalised more than 8,950 repentant terrorists who were not among the combatants, but those forcefully conscripted to the ideology by the terrorists.
The Governor said about eight batches of the insurgents had undergone the deradicalisation process while the government was preparing for the deradicalisation of the nineth batch.
Zulum said, “Since we started this programme, we never had it this way, but the Army, the state government and other security agencies are strategising and actually trying to address the resurgence of the attacks.
“That has always been the problem of asymmetric warfare.”
The governor insisted that the deradicalisation programme of the state government would not be jeopardised by the renewed attacks as the government and the military had held top strategic security meeting to deal with the situation.
In their testimonies, some of the repentant terrorists, who benefitted from the reintegration programme said that they were once believed in bloodshed without consideration for who deserved to die and who did not.
“We were driven by a thirst for violence, often killing even over personal grudges.
‘We thank God that for this deradicalisation sessions, which has helped us realise that survival is more important than death, even on the battlefield,” one of the repentant insurgents said.
He stated that he had served as a Judge for seven years in a Boko Haram’s community inside the Sambisa forest.
A female repentant insurgent said “We have come to understand the misconception we held about the ideology we once followed in the name of Islam, and we now accept that many of these were false.
“What remains for us is to correct the mistakes and we are asking for forgiveness from all those we have offended and their families in one way or another.”
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