The Senate has urged the Federal Government to immediately discontinue the rehabilitation, deradicalisation and reintegration of repentant Boko Haram members, bandits, kidnappers and other violent criminals, arguing that the policy has failed to stem the country's worsening insecurity.

The resolution was adopted following a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Abdulaziz Yar'Adua (APC, Katsina), on the rising attacks, abductions and killings of serving and retired military personnel, including former Director of Defence Information, retired Major General Rabe Abubakar.

During Tuesday's plenary, lawmakers criticised the government's continued rehabilitation of insurgents and other criminals under its deradicalisation programme, with several senators attributing the persistent insecurity in parts of northern Nigeria to the reintegration of former fighters into society.

The Senate also expressed deep concern over what it described as an alarming pattern of attacks targeting serving and retired military officers, warning that the development poses a serious threat to national security, given that many of the victims previously occupied sensitive intelligence, operational and command positions.

Among the incidents cited were the killing of retired Major General Richard Duru in Owerri after a reported ransom of $50,000 had been paid, the murder of retired Brigadier General O.M. Harlord Udokwere in Abuja, the 56-day abduction of former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), retired Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga, and the death of retired Major Aja while in captivity in Kogi State.

The Senate observed a minute's silence in honour of Major General Rabe Abubakar and other victims of terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and violent crimes across the country.

Lawmakers called on the Federal Government to ensure that those responsible for the attacks are apprehended and prosecuted. They also urged security and intelligence agencies to strengthen intelligence gathering, surveillance, threat assessment and early warning mechanisms while accelerating the deployment of modern technology to combat terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.

Nigeria established Operation Safe Corridor in 2016 as a deradicalisation programme for former Boko Haram fighters who voluntarily surrendered. Initially launched in the North-East before expanding to parts of the North-West, the initiative is anchored on five pillars—disarmament, demobilisation, deradicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Government figures indicate that thousands of former insurgents have passed through the programme since its inception. While authorities have maintained that the initiative remains a key component of Nigeria's counter-insurgency strategy, concerns have persisted following reports that some rehabilitated ex-fighters allegedly returned to terrorist activities.

However, security analyst and Associate Professor at the University of Namibia, Dr. Babayo Sule, faulted the Senate's resolution, describing the recommendation as unfortunate and potentially counterproductive.

According to Sule, rehabilitation, reconciliation, disarmament and deradicalisation are internationally recognised pillars of modern counter-insurgency strategies and should be strengthened rather than abandoned.

"The resolution asking the Federal Government to stop rehabilitation and deradicalisation of violent armed groups, including Boko Haram and bandits, is an unfortunate suggestion. It appears there is little appreciation of global counter-insurgency best practices," he said.

He noted that before the introduction of Operation Safe Corridor, the government had relied heavily on military offensives, the Joint Task Force, the Multinational Joint Task Force and support from the African Union, but said those measures alone failed to end the insurgency.

Although he acknowledged that the programme had not fully achieved its objectives, Sule insisted that its shortcomings should be addressed through reforms instead of outright cancellation.

"Our research, which lasted almost five years, showed that there are weaknesses affecting the programme's expected outcomes. But that does not justify abolishing it. What is required is to identify the gaps, improve the process and make it more effective," he said.

Sule urged the National Assembly to investigate the operational challenges confronting the programme, summon relevant security officials to provide explanations and ensure adequate funding and logistics for Nigeria's security agencies.

He also dismissed suggestions that the deradicalisation programme was responsible for the resurgence of insecurity, maintaining that available research found no direct relationship between rehabilitation efforts and the current wave of violence.

Instead, he attributed Nigeria's security challenges to the politicisation of security, institutional negligence, obsolete security infrastructure, corruption and other systemic weaknesses.

Warning against scrapping the programme, Sule said doing so could worsen insecurity by eliminating one of the few non-military pathways for resolving armed conflict.

"If the government abandons deradicalisation and rehabilitation, even the little progress made towards peace will be reversed. Since there is currently no capacity to decisively overwhelm the terrorists through military action alone and peaceful negotiations are also being rejected, insecurity could escalate beyond what the country is experiencing today," he warned.