President Bola Tinubu has promised to roll out standardised and verifiable reporting mechanisms covering former combatants who surrender to Nigerian authorities and undergo rehabilitation and reintegration processes.
This commitment is detailed within the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027–2031 manifesto, which sets out the incumbent leader's security strategy ahead of his re-election bid. The announcement arrives as his administration approaches the end of its initial four-year tenure, having navigated severe economic difficulties, currency reforms, and persistent internal security challenges.
The president faces significant political competition as he prepares for the polls. Prominent opposition figures include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), who placed second and third respectively in the 2023 general elections.
Meanwhile, opposition consolidation efforts have faced setbacks due to leadership feuds and internal legal battles. A recent Federal High Court ruling invalidated the process that produced the David Mark-led executive of the ADC, creating factional divisions within the party.
What does the new security manifesto propose?
The 109-page document, published in November, pledges to reinforce current surrender protocols and broaden trauma counseling, deradicalization, and peace-building initiatives across vulnerable regions. Specifically, the administration aims to implement structured and verifiable updates on all screened, reintegrated, and prosecuted former fighters.
This initiative addresses long-standing public anxiety regarding the reintegration of individuals linked to armed insurgencies back into traumatized local communities. A key federal framework in this domain is Operation Safe Corridor, launched in 2016 to handle fleeing or surrendering Boko Haram members who meet specific criteria for rehabilitation.
How have previous rehabilitation efforts fared?
Operation Safe Corridor provides participants with psychological care, vocational training, and ideological reorientation before civilian re-entry. However, the scheme has repeatedly drawn criticism from citizens and victims of insurgency who argue that former combatants receive institutional support while displaced survivors continue to suffer.
Military authorities have consistently clarified that the initiative does not constitute a blanket amnesty and applies only to evaluated low-risk individuals. Higher-risk offenders are routed through standard judicial procedures.
In earlier statements, national coordinators noted that screening processes were being upgraded to enhance transparency. The manifesto also outlines intentions to expand infrastructure to address insecurity beyond the North- east into the North-west and North-central zones, alongside facilitating the orderly return of internally displaced persons.
Despite these assurances, critics point to past vulnerabilities. In September 2024, a security breach occurred in Mafa, Borno State, when several former insurgents integrated into counter-insurgency camps departed with tactical equipment—an incident that sparked intense debate over the reliability of surveillance and monitoring systems following official release.