Society Gists

Global terrorism expert, Abayomi Nurain Mumuni has warned the Federal Government on the proposed plan to rehabilitate the surrendered Boko Haraam insurgents, saying; “real terrorists don’t repent easily”.
Reacting to the news of over 800 repentant Boko Haraam members who would be undergoing rehabilitation, Mumuni said it’s only in Nigeria that some elements would claim to have repented, while the terrorists that matter are already strategizing their next attacks.

“If however they are Boko Haraam members, they surrendered because they realised that their waterloo was close. Either voluntarily or involuntarily, they should not be allowed in the system. They would pollute the environs, and that might have great effects on innocent people. Going by decades of my academic experience in this field, I doubt it. Our soldiers shouldn’t relent in the fight against the terrorist group”, he stressed.

Mumuni, who holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Intelligence and Terrorism Profiling at the Henley-Putnam University – San Jose, California, believes that most Boko Haraam members are foreigners who should be sent back to their countries.

According to him, “How do you rehabilitate foreigners? Most of them are not Nigerians. They are cross border terrorists. They are from Cameroon, Niger Republic, Chad and other neighbouring countries. Don’t forget, they abducted Cameroon’s deputy prime minister’s wife years ago and have increased cross-border attacks. They should be sent back to their countries, while we think of better strategies for the Nigerians among them”.

The former governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Lagos State also said sending them to jail would be dangerous, adding that; “Our prison system is poor. Sending them to jail will enable them to gather more criminals, sell their ideas and recruit more members. It is very troubling.”

He however suggested rehabilitation and de-radicalization on humanitarian grounds, noting that profiling the repentant Boko Haraam members should be the first approach.

Speaking on how to identify Nigerians among the allegedly repented terrorists, Mumuni said; “We may have to apply conventional methods, since we do not have a working system. We shall split them into groups and process them one after the other,and other strategies not meant for public consumption. However, it is instrumental to involve their Tsangaya school teachers, Ulamah and community leaders in the rehabilitation process.

“Their families should be included in the rehabilitation process. Terrorists do not come from heaven. They have families. If we must rehabilitate them, their families should be included. If we ignore them, they will continue to terrorize us, and commit the highest numbers of Armageddon, except we have instruments to monitor them. There are raw materials to make IEDs, and they are easily accessible on the streets, and before you know it, they start making bombs. Government must do the needful if it is serious about the rehabilitation exercise.”

To Mumumi, some of the ways to reduce the risks of terrorism are through enlightenment and providing means of livelihood for the people.

The author of “Global Terrorism and its Effects on Humanity” explained that once those involved are provided for, they would not be pushed to indulge in criminal activities.

“In fact, some of the common people receive stolen goods from these terrorists. They help them keep their guns. Once they provide them food, they keep mum. The terrorists have informants among them. Most of the villagers are benefiting from the terrorists because of the level of poverty in the country. Government needs to provide for them, even before embarking on literacy programmes,” he stated.

Mumuni’s second book, “Demand by Terror”, which is to be released on September 11, 2016 in the US, examines the demands that are usually made by terrorist organizations to justify their actions and to force authorities to subscribe to their objectives.

Abayomi Nurain Mumuni