Former Chief of Defence Staff, Retired General Lucky Irabor, has dismissed the common perception that repentant Boko Haram terrorists are being recruited into the Nigerian military.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, General Irabor, who wondered where people got that impression from, insisted that recruitment of repentant terrorists into the military “does not exist.”
General Irabor said: “It has always been a burden for me where we got this impression from. How can they be recruited? This does not exist,”
He further explained that, having served at the top echelon of the Nigerian military for many years, it is practically impossible for repentant terrorists to find their way into the system.
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He detailed his extensive experience: “Before I became CDS, I was Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole. From there, I crossed over to become Force Commander, Multinational Aid on Taskforce. When I left, I became Chief of Defence Training and Operations, overseeing all that.”
He added, “And then I became Theatre Commander and later got appointed as CDS, a position I spent two and a half years in. How could it be? Where people got that impression I cannot tell.”
He stressed the impossibility of the claim, saying: “It is impossible. Besides, you can’t come into the military if those in your local government have not actually sanctioned you,”
He noted that Operation Safe Corridor handles the deradicalization of low-risk arrested terrorists and facilitates their reintegration into society.
While acknowledging inconsistencies in handling insecurity in the country, General Irabor rejected the notion that these challenges result from a failure on the part of security operatives. He noted that there are gaps that need to be addressed to improve the fight against insecurity, chief among them being manpower and equipment.
The former military chief said that addressing insecurity is not solely about spending money, arguing that the volume of funds expended does not necessarily translate to efficiency.
He emphasized the importance of taking time to listen and understand the problems in order to address them effectively.
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