Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Boko Haram rehabilitation programme should be abolished, security expert Dr Steve Okwori says, backing the Senate’s call for the Federal Government to suspend the rehabilitation and reintegration of repentant insurgents and instead prioritise the arrest and prosecution of terrorists.
Okwori speaks on Tuesday in reaction to the Senate’s resolution urging the government to halt the programme amid worsening insecurity and increasing attacks on serving and retired military personnel.
“The abolishment of the rehabilitation and reintegration programme for repentant Boko Haram members is long overdue. The government should focus on arresting and prosecuting terrorists rather than reintegrating them,” Okwori says.
The Senate adopts the resolution during plenary after considering a motion sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua on the escalating attacks, kidnappings and killings of serving and retired military officers across the country.
Lawmakers also direct their security committees to strengthen oversight of security agencies and ensure security chiefs intensify efforts to address the deteriorating security situation.
The upper chamber further resolved that a delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio should meet President Bola Tinubu to discuss the growing security crisis.
Presenting the motion, Yar’Adua says the attacks have resulted in deaths, prolonged captivity, ransom payments, emotional trauma and financial hardship for victims and their families.
He cites several cases, including the abduction of retired Colonel Rabiu Garba Yandoto and his children in Zamfara State, the killing of retired Major General Richard Chukwudi Duru in Imo State despite payment of a ransom, and the murder of retired Brigadier General Uwem Udokwere in Abuja.
The senator also highlights the kidnapping of former NYSC Director-General Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (retd), the death of retired Major Joe Ajayi in captivity, the rescue of retired Colonel Joseph Ajanaku and the abduction and death of former Director of Defence Information Major General Rabe Abubakar.
Yar’Adua warns that the increasing targeting of military personnel, many of whom possess extensive operational and intelligence experience, poses a serious threat to national security.
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Oluwatobi Adu