744 Graduate from Nigeria's Deradicalization Program

In Gombe, Nigeria, 744 former insurgents and victims of violent extremism graduated on Friday from the federal government's Deradicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration program under Operation Safe Corridor, marking a significant step in the nation's efforts to combat insurgency in the northeast.

The graduates include 736 Nigerians and eight foreign nationals: one each from Burkina Faso and Cameroon, two from Chad, and four from Niger Republic. Among the Nigerians, the majority hailed from Borno State with 597 participants, followed by Yobe with 58, Kano with 15, Bauchi with 12, and Adamawa with 10. Smaller numbers came from states including Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, and Sokoto. Of the total, 733 are Muslims and 11 are Christians.

The ceremony, held at a rehabilitation center in Gombe, highlighted the program's role in addressing the root causes of extremism through non-military means. Chief of Defence Staff General Olufemi Oluyede, represented by Rear Admiral Kabiru Tanimu, director of special operations forces at Defence Headquarters, described the initiative as a structured pathway for disengagement from...