A retired soldier, Colonel Hassan Stan-Labo has warned the Federal Government to be careful with its decision to rehabilitate and reintegrate some repentant terrorists who have gone through the government’s deradicalisation programme, Operations Safe Corridor (OSC).
The OSC which began under former president Muhammadu Buhari has run for several years and seen no fewer than 4,000 ex-Boko Haram members go through the programme.
However, in July 2022, some repentant Boko Haram members, despite renouncing their membership of the terror group, were accused of having contact with their former colleagues, supplying them intelligence.
Reacting on the matter, Hassan Stan-Labo, stated, “If we have mobilised and brought them (terrorists) out for rehabilitation, it is already too late; there is nothing we can do but to go the whole hog; go through the entire demobilisation, de-radicalisation and rehabilitation.
“However, if I were the commander-in-chief, my instructions would have been: ‘Don’t bring anybody for any damn rehabilitation; you bloody well will pay the price for whatever you have done on the battlefront’.
“You want a battle, come get the battle. You have committed all kinds of atrocities and now, you turn around begging for forgiveness. We don’t have a responsibility to forgive you; we hasten your journey to heaven. Go and meet God and ask for penance. What do we tell the people in the displaced persons camps, who are not even getting the kind of treatment we are giving these guys?”
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He also asked that proper biometrics be taken of them so they would not find their way into the military.
“We can have the biometrics of these guys and since fingerprints are used in the course of recruitment, we should be able to fish out those who may want to join the military. If we have a very effective intelligence network on the ground, this wouldn’t happen. I’m also aware that the Borno State Government is documenting their biometrics data. That’s a very good starting point,” he added.
