Insurgency: Stakeholders recommend effective communication
Stakeholders have suggested various ways of tackling insurgency in Nigeria through the adoptions of communication, consensus, cooperation and coordination.
These are the views of the participants at the roundtable on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), peace building and reconciliation in the North-East of Nigeria.
The programme was organised by the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in conjunction with NEEM Foundation.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai in his remarks said the Nigerian Army has put in place right mechanisms to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate the ex-combatants.
According to him, “Disarmament in this context requires heighten the military activities to be able to forcefully disarm the terrorists.
“Demobilisation, we are already in the process of doing that with the operation safe corridor ongoing in Gombe State.
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“For reintegration is quite fundamental. We must look at, ‘Will the society accept these individuals?’ Considering the atrocities they’ve committed,” he said.
The Army chief therefore calls for an interagency collaboration to make sure that the insurgents do not go back to the bushes to unleash terrors on innocent people.
Similarly, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said the North-East insurgency has assumed the insurrectional level, hence the need for interference of the military to disarm, demobilise, reconcile and reintegrate.
“The goal of this forum is to bring together all peace stakeholders; military, civilians, federal and state agencies, local and international ngos to discuss what is happening in the northeast, approach to use in ending it, therefore work out disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and reconciliation (DDRR).
“Now that the ongoing kinetic efforts have been upgraded and dismantled to some large extent, all efforts must now geared towards developing a consensus which will allow those of them who are still in doubt at whether to continue or surrender to surrender.”
