Senate Demands Immediate Halt to Boko Haram Rehabilitation, Citing Common Sense and Security Concerns

Nigeria's Senate has strongly urged the Federal Government to immediately halt its policy of rehabilitating and reintegrating former Boko Haram members and other insurgents into society. This significant resolution, passed during a plenary session on Tuesday, July 7, followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army. Lawmakers condemned the worsening insecurity across Nigeria, describing it as increasingly complex, persistent, and alarming, manifesting through terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and widespread loss of innocent lives.

The Senate's condemnation extended to the government's deradicalisation and rehabilitation programs, with senators from across party lines expressing deep concerns that these initiatives, particularly 'Operation Safe Corridor', have failed to address the security crisis and are perceived by many Nigerians as rewarding violence rather than deterring it. Senator Joseph Ikpea raised an additional prayer to stop the rehabilitation of Boko Haram members, seconded by Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who argued that the policy defies logic when victims of terrorism and families of fallen security personnel are still suffering.

A major catalyst for the Senate's debate was the escalating pattern of attacks, abductions, and killings targeting serving and retired military personnel. Senator Yar’Adua highlighted that retired officers remain attractive targets for terrorists and kidnappers due to their previous operational, intelligence, and command responsibilities, warning that such persistent attacks undermine troop morale and embolden criminal groups challenging state authority. The Senate observed a minute of silence in honour of late Major-General Rabe Abubakar, former Director of Defence Information, and all Nigerians lost to insecurity.

A string of attacks on retired senior officers across various states since 2023 was enumerated. These include the abduction of Colonel Rabiu Garba Yandoto (retd) and his children in Zamfara on January 1, 2023, and their eventual release. Major General Richard Chukwudi Duru was kidnapped in Owerri, Imo State, on September 27, 2023, and tragically killed despite a reported $50,000 ransom payment. On June 22, 2024, Brigadier-General Uwem Harold Udokwere (retd) was murdered during an invasion of his Abuja residence. Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga (retd), former Director-General of NYSC, was abducted from his Katsina State residence on February 5, 2025, and held captive for 56 days before regaining freedom. Retired Major Joe Ajayi was abducted from his Kogi State residence on May 21, 2025, and subsequently died in captivity. Colonel Joseph Ajanaku (retd) was abducted in Plateau State in January 2026 but was later rescued. Most recently, on May 30, 2026, Retired Major-General Rabe Abubakar was abducted with his wife by suspected terrorists in Katsina State and died in captivity.

The Senate argued that this disturbing pattern undermines morale within the armed forces, erodes public confidence in the state's capacity to provide security, and emboldens criminal elements who perceive the state as incapable of protecting even its former defenders. Beyond halting the rehabilitation policy, lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to ensure the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators, strengthen intelligence gathering, surveillance, threat assessment, and early warning systems, and accelerate the deployment of modern security technologies to combat terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping.

However, the Senate's resolution faced immediate criticism from security experts. Dr. Babayo Sule, a security analyst and Associate Professor at the University of Namibia, described the Senate's suggestion as