Operation Safe Corridor, a danger to Nigeria!

For 19 years, Nigeria has bled under the scourge of Islamic terrorism. From the early days of the Boko Haram uprising to the present-day hydra-headed monster of ISWAP, Fulani herdsmen and “bandit” alliances, the recipe for Nigeria’s survival has always been simple: justice. Yet, the Federal Government continues to serve Nigerians the bitter, indigestible pill of Operation Safe Corridor, OPSC.

Established under the late President Muhammadu Buhari administration, OPSC is a thinly veiled attempt to short-circuit the course of justice. The recent “graduation” of 744 suspects from the Gombe camp is not a victory for peace; it is a slap in the face to the over three million internally displaced persons, IDPs, and the families of those slaughtered in their sleep. We are expected to believe that a few months of “vocational training” and “civic education” can scrub the souls of hardened killers who have contributed to a crisis that has left over 20 million children out of school.

Perhaps the most alarming detail in the military’s recent report is the inclusion of eleven “Christians” allegedly from South-East and South-South states. This claim defies the very logic of jihadist insurgency. How did elements from the largely Christian South-East find themselves in the trenches of fighters for a radical Islamic caliphate? Are these truly repentant insurgents, or are they victims of arbitrary arrests being used to give this programme a fraudulent “national” spread?

We call on the Governors of the South-East and South-South to immediately demand the identities and circumstances of these individuals. Their inclusion smells of a desperate attempt to perfume a programme that is fundamentally flawed.

Furthermore, how does the military “fathom” a terrorist’s heart? Can a few lectures in a government boot camp truly uproot an ideology that thrives on the total destruction of the Nigerian state? History suggests otherwise. Previous batches of “repentant” terrorists have been linked to the spread of violence into new theatres like Niger, Kwara, and Kogi states. By sidestepping justice and recycling these suspects back into society, government is essentially distributing a virus across the federation, hoping it won’t infect.

True de-radicalisation can only follow accountability. Anyone involved in the killing of unarmed Nigerians and the destruction of communities must face the full weight of the law. Reprieve should only be considered after a transparent judicial process and appropriate justice. Only then can “repentance” be possibly considered for prerogative of mercy.

The Federal Government must abolish Operation Safe Corridor immediately. It has become an avenue for terror suspects to escape justice and a factory for recycling insecurity. It serves the interests of Islamists. It is anti-Nigerian. Nigeria cannot heal by pampering those who have torn it apart.

Justice is the only path to peace; anything else is a dangerous delusion.

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