Safe Corridor programme targets low-risk, conscripted fighters – coordinator

By Zainab Uzomah| Abuja

The coordinator of Nigeria’s deradicalisation initiative, Operation Safe Corridor, Brigadier General Yusuf Ali, has said the programme is designed for conscripted and low-risk individuals, not hardened members of armed groups.

Speaking on Tuesday during the media briefing on military operations, he said participants are carefully screened and profiled before being admitted, stressing that the scheme does not cater to those deeply involved in criminal activities.

Operation Safe Corridor was established in 2016 to deradicalise, rehabilitate and reintegrate former fighters who surrender. Mr Ali said the initiative was introduced at a time when large numbers of people were leaving insurgent-held areas and giving themselves up.

He explained that many of those classified as low risk were forced into joining insurgent groups when towns such as Gwoza, Madagali and Bama were under occupation.

“As operations intensified and these areas were cleared, many able-bodied men were conscripted or abducted and compelled to fight or provide support services,” he said.

Some, he added, were seized while travelling and taken into the bush, where they were forced to work for the groups.

Mr Ali said that as military pressure increased, some of these individuals fled and surrendered to government forces, prompting the need for a structured rehabilitation programme.

He noted that 17 government ministries, departments and agencies, alongside international partners including UN organisations, support the initiative. Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice, he said, plays a key role in screening those who surrender or are arrested.