{"id":126322,"date":"2026-03-27T06:09:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T05:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=126322"},"modified":"2026-03-27T06:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T05:09:04","slug":"terrorists-deserve-rehabilitation-not-death-cds-oluyede","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/terrorists-deserve-rehabilitation-not-death-cds-oluyede\/","title":{"rendered":"Terrorists Deserve Rehabilitation, Not Death \u2014 CDS Oluyede\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Oscar Okhifo<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Olufemi Oluyede, has ignited fresh controversy after asserting that terrorists in Nigeria should be given a chance to repent and undergo rehabilitation rather than face outright elimination.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Oluyede made the statement on Thursday, during the inaugural lecture of the Armed Forces Joint Doctrine and Warfare Centre (JDWC) at the Nigerian Army Conference Centre in Abuja.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He spoke while responding to persistent public criticism of the military\u2019s deradicalization initiative, &#8220;Operation Safe Corridor&#8221; a programme designed to rehabilitate and reintegrate former insurgents who surrender.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to him, while many Nigerians believe terrorists \u201cshould be killed\u201d because of their actions, the government must still consider pathways for those willing to abandon violence.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cTalking about Operation Safe Corridor, so many people have asked that question: why do we need to rehabilitate criminals? They all should be killed because they have killed people. Well, that may make sense,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, he argued that Nigeria must allow room for repentance, drawing a biblical comparison.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBut even in the Bible, we heard about the prodigal son. If there was not that window for the man to come back, would they have come back?\u201d he added.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Oluyede stressed that most insurgents are Nigerians and should be given a chance to renounce extremism voluntarily instead of being pushed further into violence.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He also called for better public and legislative understanding of the programme, noting that its implementation is currently driven by the Defence Headquarters.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI think it is important for us to make people understand, especially the National Assembly, because as we speak now, everything about the safe corridor is being given by the defence headquarters,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, his comments have triggered strong reactions from many Nigerians, who say the policy does not reflect the scale of brutality inflicted by insurgents on both civilians and security forces.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Some observers argue that there is no commensurate force to counter the terror unleashed by insurgent groups, expressing concern that leniency is obviously emboldening further violence.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are also lingering allegations that some rehabilitated fighters have returned to insurgency or act as informants for those still in the forests, raising doubts about the long-term effectiveness of the programme.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe war has cost so much in human and resources, yet there is obvious sympathy towards these vicious agents of darkness who spill blood for fun,\u201d a resident of Damaturu, Yobe State capital, who identified himself as Abubakar Buni, said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Others have questioned the motives behind the continued support for the programme, suggesting that financial allocations tied to it may be influencing its persistence.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey don&#8217;t even value their boys that these terrorists kill every day. I will never allow my son to join the Army,\u201d a caller said during a radio programme.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The comments come amid continued insecurity in the North-East, where Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks have persisted for over a decade, leaving thousands dead and millions displaced.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nigeria\u2019s insurgency, which began in 2009, remains one of the country\u2019s most prolonged security crises, with ongoing debate over whether rehabilitation or punishment should dominate the national counterterrorism strategy.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oscar Okhifo The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Olufemi Oluyede, has ignited fresh controversy after asserting that terrorists in Nigeria should be given a chance to repent and undergo&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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